37  7  8 


I/I  B  R.ARY 

OF  THL 

U  N  IVERSITY 
OF    ILLINOIS 

9T7.  6 


cop.  2. 


HISTORY   RECORDING  ON  TIME   THE    EVENTS  OP  THE  NATIONS. 


PRESENTED  TO 


BY 


EDWARDS'S 

G-KEAT   WEST 

AXD   HER 

COMMERCIAL     METROPOLIS, 

EMBRACING 

A  GEKEKAL  VIEW  OF  THE  WEST, 


AXD   A   COMPLETE 


HISTORY  OF  ST.  LOUIS, 

FROM  THE  LANDING  OF  LIGUESTE,  IN  1764, 
TO    THE    PRESENT   TIME; 

WITH    PORTRAITS  AND   BIOGRAPHIES  OF  SOME  OP  THE  OLD  SETTLERS,  AND 
MANY  OF  THE  MOST  PROMINENT  BUSINESS  MEN. 

BY 

RICHARD  EDWARDS  AND  M,  HOPEWELL,  ,M  D, 

SPLENDIDLY    ILLUSTRATED. 


ST.     LOUIS  : 

PUBLISHED   AT   THE   OFFICE  OF   "EDWARDS'S  MONTHLY," 
A  JOURNAL  OF  PROGRESS. 

TRUBNEK  &  CO.,  25  PATERNOSTER  ROW,  LONDON,  AGENTS  FOR  EUROPE. 

Copies  will  "be  sent  to  any  part  of  the  "United  States  (Free  of 

Charge),  on  receipt  of  Five  Dollars,  .sent  to  Richard. 

Edwards,  Box  1351,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Sold  to  Subscribers  only,  by  appointed  Agents. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1860,  by 
RICHARD     EDWARDS, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Eastern  District 

of  Missouri. 


JEWISH  SYNAGOGUE,  BENAIEL. 
Located  on  the  South-east  corner  of  SUth  and  Cerre  streets. 


NOTICE  TO  AUTHORS,  EDITORS,  AND  PUBLISHERS. 

THE  proprietor  of  this  work  having  been  at  great  expense  and  some  years  in  collecting 
and  preparing  the  information  contained  in  this  volume,  which  is  entirely  original,  would 
respectfully  remind  all  persons  that  the  copyright  has  been  regularly  secured. 

To  BOOKSELLERS  AND  DEALERS. — Any  persons  selling  copies  of  a  work  which  is  an 
infringement  of  an  existing  copyright,  are  liable  to  a  fine  on  each  copy. 

PERSONS  purchasing  copies  of  a  work  which  is  an  infringement  of  a  copyright,  are 
reminded  that  they  are  liable  to  prosecution. 


0.   A.   ALVORD,   STEREOTYPEE   AXD  PRINTER,  NEW  YORK. 


TO    THZ5    IN"H  A.BITA.N"TS    OF1    ST.    LOUIS, 

• 

%    ©rrat    ITdropolts    of    %    fflfcrf, 

THIS    BOOK    IS    RESPECTFULLY    DEDICATED, 
.  BY    THE    AUTHORS. 


CITIZENS  OF  ST.  Louis, 

Greeting  : 

IT  is  the  custom  of  most  nations  to  have  a  Patron  Saint  for  the  purpose  of  protection 
and  conciliation,  and  most  books  have  some  powerful  Maecenas  to  introduce  them  to 
the  world  under  favorable  auspices.  To  you  we  dedicate  this  book,  and  claim  you 
as  our  Patrons.  It  is  you  who  have  developed  the'  great  resources  of  this  Western 
Metropolis.  It  is  you  who  have  given  it  its  fame,  its  wealth,  and  its  business.  You 
have  given  it  reputation  abroad,  and  prosperity  at  home.  You  have  made  it  also 
famous  for  its  hospitality,  and  the  pilgrim  and  the  stranger  feel  conscious  when  they 
c,"  enter  the  Mound  City,  that  there  are  warm  hearts  and  friendly  hands  to  welcome 
O  them.  St.  Louis  is  still  young,  though  in  growth  a  Titan,  and  this  history  has 
recorded  many  of  your  names,  as  being  instrumental  in  carving  out  its  progressive 
destiny.  There  is  scarcely  a  family  in  it,  but  in  turning  over  the  pages  of  this 
book,  will  see  the  name  of  some  friend  or  relative,  perhaps  now  festering  in  the 
shroud,  who  have  acted  well  their  parts,  and  have  honorable  mention  in  this  record. 
And  since  St.  Louis  has  become  worthy  of  a  history  through  the  enterprise  of  her 
•>  citizens,  it  is  good  and  proper  that  "  The  Great  West  and  her  Commercial  Metropolis," 
be  dedicated  to  the  Citizens  of  St.  Louis. 


RICHARD    EDWARDS. 


PREFACE. 


IN  commencing  this  preface,  the  authors  readily  yield  to  the  emo- 
tions which  animate  them.  They  are  emotions  of  gratitude  to  those 
who,  with  a  good  heart  and  a  desire  for  the  complete  success  of  this 
work,  have  imparted  most  essential  information,  and  have  furnished 
some  of  the  chief  materials  that  are  woven  in  this  history. 

To  Madam  Elizabeth  Ortes,  the  only  one  now  living  who  recol- 
lects the  founder  of  St.  Louis,  Pierre  Laclede  Liguest,  we  are  under 
lasting  obligations.  She  is  the  only  living  record  of  the  early  time 
of  this  city,  and  on  every  occasion  was  happy  to  answer  our  inquiries, 
and  furnish  us,  from  the  ample  storehouse  of  a  memory  garnering  in- 
cidents for  nearly  a  century,  interesting  narratives  and  anecdotes. 
To  Madame  Yament,  James  G.  Soulard,  Dr.  Robert  Simpson,  Henry 
Von  Phul,  Jean  Baptiste  Hortez,  some  of  them  born  in  St.  Louis,  and 
all  of  them,  with  but  one  exception,  past  the  threescore  and  ten  years 
allotted  to  human  existence,  we  likewise  tender  our  thanks,  for  con- 
tributing much  that  was  necessary  for  our  purpose;  and  to  Nathaniel 
Paschall,  Colonel  Charles  Keemle,  Augustus  Kerr,  and  others,  whose 
names  are  legion,  we  cheerfully  and  gratefully  acknowledge  our  in- 
debtedness for  invaluable  facts. 

It  is  now  meet  and  proper,  in  giving  this  work  to  the  public,  to 
state  the  great  difficulties  which  encompassed  the  undertaking.  We 
do  this,  not  to  crave  indulgence  for  imperfections,  but  to  elicit  a  just 
and  dispassionate  examination  with  the  light  of  surrounding  circum- 
stances. All  that  was  known  of  the  early  history  of  St.  Louis,  pre- 
vious to  our  undertaking,  consisted  in  some  few  isolated  facts  and 
traditionary  narratives,  which,  from  time  to  time,  had  been  published, 
and,  if  woven  together,  would  have  been  meagre  indeed — mere  dis- 
jointed fragments,  and  not  a  centime  of  the  material  required  for  an 
historical  fabric.  Some  of  these  narratives  were  also  wrong  in  histor- 
ical fact,  and  this  corning  to  our  knowledge,  made  us  suspicious  of  the 
whole ;  and  it  was  only  after  a  cautious  examination  of  their  authen- 
ticity that  we  adopted  any  of  them  as  history ;  and,  consequently,  the 
few  pioneer  marks  left  by  others  have  not  assisted  our  search,  or  sub- 
tracted from  our  labors.  It  has  been  over  three  years  since  this  work 
was  conceived,  and  for  the  last  eighteen  months  we  have  been  sedu- 
lously and  absorbingly  employed  in  collecting  the  necessary  informa- 
tion. All  of  the  French  and  Spanish  archives  have  been  consulted  in  the 
original  manuscript,  for  fear  of  errors  creeping  in  the  translated  copies ; 


54  PRKFACE. 


the  Livre  Terrein,*  and  other  papers  contained  in  the  United  States 
Recorder's  office,  carefully  examined ;  and  private  papers,  which  have 
been  committed  to  our  care  by  some  of  the  old  settlers,  have  been  ex- 
hausted of  whatever  was  essential  to  our  purpose.  The  records  of 
the  Catholic  Church,  which  throw  so  much  light  upon  the  early  history 
of  St.  Louis,  were  cheerfully  submitted  to  our  inspection  by  the  Very 
Rev.  Edmund  Saulnier,  the  chancellor  of  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis, 
and  from  them  we  gathered  most  useful  information.  We  have  sedu- 
lously sought  the  acquaintance  of  the  few  that  were  left  of  the  early 
inhabitants,  and  in  the  mass  of  information  that  has  been  acquired, 
have  carefully  weighed  conflicting  declarations,  and  have  rejected  all 
that  wore  an  appearance  of  doubt  and  strong  incredibility.  Such  have 
been  the  sources  from  which  we  have  drawn  our  information  in  form- 
ing the  portion  of  the  work  which  comprises  the  early  history  of  St. 
Louis  ;  and  if  it  can  lay  claim  to  no  other  merit,  it  has  that  of  relia- 
bility. 

From  1808,  th'e  chief  events  of  St.  Louis  were  preserved  from 
the  oblivious  influences  of  time  by  the  establishment  of  a  journal, 
now  The  Missouri  Republican,  and  to  its  present  proprietors  we  are 
under  infinite  obligations,  for  cheerfully  consigning  to  our  possession 
its  files,  that  preserved  in  their  columns  so  much  of  narrative  inci- 
dent which  would  otherwise  have  inevitably  perished;  and  our  pro- 
gress from  this  date  was  much  easier.  However,  it  was  constantly 
necessary  still  to  advise  with  those  of  the  inhabitants  who  lived  at 
the  time,  and  had  a  perfect  knowledge  of  concurrent  events.  As 
the  city  enlarged,  the  materials  for  history  constantly  increased,  and 
AVC  had  to  select  those  portions  that  were  most  fraught  with  interest 
and  utility.  It  was  impossible  to  embody  all,  and  there  may  be  some 
who  would  have  been  most  interested  in  the  rejected  portions.  For 
the  disappointment  of  those  we  cannot  justly  be  accountable,  and 
hope  we  have  alleged  a  sufficient  explanation. 

The  getting  up  of  a  work  of  this  magnitude,  and  in  such  style, 
has  been  attended  with  an  immense  outlay  of  capital,  all  of  which 
has  been  borne  and  risked,,  in  this  enterprise,  by  one  of  the  authors ; 
nor  has  state  or  municipal  aid  been  received  or  solicited. 

We  have  been  compelled  to  change  the  design  of  this  work,  con- 
templated at  its  commencement.  Then  we  intended  to  embrace  in 
it  the  business  of  St.  Louis.  Had  we  done  so,  the  history  of  St. 
Louis  would  have  been  but  a  meagre  sketch,  unworthy  of  the  name 
of  history ;  for  we  could  not  have  given  to  it  more  than  one-third  of 
its  present  space,  as  it  would  not  do  to  make  a  book  of  this  nature 
too  voluminous ;  and,  from  the  same  cause,  so  as  to  give  a  greater 
latitude  to  the  history  of  St.  Louis,  Ave  have  omitted  the  sketch  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley  and  the  state  of  Missouri.  However,  at  a  near 
day,  in  a  series  of  publications,  we  will  embrace  what  was  then 
omitted ;  the  "  Gazetteer  of  the  State"  being  in  incipient  pfogress. 
Had  this  volume  been  larger,  it  would  have  been  out  of  taste  and 
unattractive. 

*  W.  G.  Hofstetter,  of  the  United  States  Recorder's  Office,  assisted  us  much  in  guid- 
ing our  search  in  the  old  records  with  which  he  is  so  familiar. 


PREFACE.  55 


The  biographies,  which  make  a  portion  of  this  Avork,  are  replete 
with  interest,  and  serve  more  fully  to  illustrate  the  history  of  our 
great  metropolis — for  they  have  for  their  subjects  those  who  have 
become  prominent  in  their  respective  spheres  of  life,  and  have  mate- 
rially served  to  develop  the  elements  which  have  given  to  the  city  its 
business  importance  and  honorable  position.  We  will  here  give  the 
names  of  many  other  prominent  persons,  whose  biographies  are  not 
found  in  this  work.  They  were  all  written  to  ;  some  declined,  from  too 
fastidious  a  delicacy,  from  appearing  in  the  work,  while  the  rest  unfor- 
tunately did  not  receive  the  letters  addressed  to  them,  and  their  miscar- 
riage was  not  discovered  until  too  late  to  rectify  it.  There  were  also 
some  photographs  and  biographies  received  too  late  for  insertion.  The 
names  of  these  gentlemen  are  as  follows,  viz. :  Hon.  Daniel  D.  Page,  Hon. 
George  Maguire,  Hon.  John  M.  "Wimer,  Hon.  James  G.  Barry,  Hon. 
John  How,  Hudson  E.  Bridge,  Judge  Peter  Ferguson,  Hon.  Wayman 
Crow,  Right  Rev.  Archbishop  Kendrick,  Rev.  Dr.  Elliot,  James 
Clemens,  Jr.,  William  Renshaw,  Sen.,  Asa  Wilgus,  William  G.  Pettus, 
Colonel  Robert  Campbell,  James  Harrison,  William  M.  McPherson, 
Amndee  Valle,  Wilson  Primm,  Captain  J.  C.  Swon,  Daniel  Hough, 
M.  J.  Swarmger,  D.  A.  January,  H.  R.  Gamble,  Dr.  J.  N.  McDowell, 
David  Rankin,  Judge  R.  J.  Lackland,  Judge  Alexander  Hamilton, 
D.  R.  Garrison,  J.  T.  Dowdall,  J.  Finney,  S.  D.  Barlow,  Gabriel  S. 
Chouteau,  Francis  Saler,  John  B.  Carson,  Dr.  J.  W.  Hall,  Rev.  E.  C. 
Hutchinson,  John  G.  Priest,  Henry  Clay  Hart,  Captain  Andrew 
Har-per,  Frederick  Dings,  Dr.  Robert  Simpson,*  and  some  others. 

In  conclusion,  we  tender  our  heartfelt  thanks  to  the  journals  of  St. 
Louis.  We  thank  them  cordially  for  the  many  encomiums  whilst  in 
progress,  and  as  we  read  their  articles  so  flattering  to  our  -prospects, 
so  fraught  with  predictions  of  certain  success,  we  felt  encouraged  and 
sustained  in  our  labors,  and  hurried  up  our  lagging  Pegasus,  that 
their  friendly  and  liberal  promises  to  the  public  might,  at  all  events, 
be  measurably  fulfilled.  They  wove  the  bay  wreath  for  the  book 
before  it  was  finished,  and  before  its  merits  had  been  tested.  It  now 
goes  forth  to  the  world  under  the  happiest  auspices,  and  if  it  meet 
with  disfavor,  it  must  be  because  unworthy. 

RICHARD  EDWARDS. 
M.  HOPEWELL. 

It  is  but  an  act  of  duty  and  justice  for  me  to  say  that  this  work 
was  first  commenced  over  three  years  ago  by  Mr.  Richard  Edwards, 
and  all  the  pecuniary  risk  attending  it  is  at  his  hazard. 

M.  HOPEWELL. 

*  Dr.  Robert  Simpson  is  the  oldest  American  citizen,  who  came  earliest  to  St.  Louis. 
He  was  the  first  to  keep  a  drug-store.  He  has  been  assessor,  sheriff,  county  court 
judge,  and  physician  in  the  army,  and  there  are  none  who  held  these  offices  before  him 
now  alive.  He  is  the  oldest  postmaster,  has  been  connected  with  all  the  important 
phases  in  the  early  history  of  St.  Louis,  and  we  exceedingly 'regret  that  his  biography 
is  not  in  this  work. 


INTRODUCTION 


IT  is  necessary  to  preface  the  History  of  St.  Louis  by  a  few  preliminary 

remarks,  so  that  the  reader  may 
have  an  intelligent  conception  of 
some  things  which,  unexplained, 
would  leave  a  doubtful  impression 
upon  his  mind,  and  perhaps  subject 
the  authors  to  the  imputations  of 
neglect  or  error.  The  founder  of 
St.  Louis  has  always  been  known 
by  the  name  of  Laclede,  and  it  is 
almost  universally  believed  that  it 
was  his  family  name,  when  his  full 
name  was  is  Pierre  Laclede  Liguest. 
This  error  was  a  very  natural  one, 
as  we  shall  proceed  to  explain,  and 
it  is  most  probable  that  all  who 
landed  at  the  contemplated  trading 
post  on  the  loth  of  February,  with 
but  few  exceptions,  believed  that 
his  surname  was  Laclede. 

At  the  time  that  a  settlement 
was  made  upon  the  site  of  St.  Louis, 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  great  Mis- 
sissippi Valley  was  a  wild,  with  the 
exception  of  the  immediate  neigh- 
borhoods of  New  Orleans,  Natchez, 
Fort  de  Chartres,  St.  Genevieve, 
Kaskaskia,  Cahokia,  and  a  few 
more  military  posts.  From  -the 
sparseness  of  the  inhabitants  in  the 
villages  and  even  in  New  Orleans, 
the  capital  of  the  Province  of  Louisiana,  there  were  no  castes  in  society, 
and,  with  the  exception  of  the  commandants,  and  a  few  royal  officers,  there 
was  a  perfect  equality  among  the  others.  They  were  almost  all  hunters 
and  trappers,  those  being  the  leading  pursuits  at  that  period,  and  con- 
sequently rough,  ignorant,  and  characterized  by  a  freedom  of  manner 
always  incident  to  the  Caucasian  race,  when  free  from  the  refining  influ- 
ences of  education  and  society.  Hence,  in  their  intercourse  with  each 
other,  they  were  known  by  the  first,  middle,  or  last  names,  as  accident 


OLD  SPANISH  FORT.  (Foot  of  Greene  street.) 


58  INTRODUCTION. 

prompted.  The  first,  or  Christian  name,  was  the  most  frequently  used, 
as  it  is  now  among  school-boys,  and  among  the  pioneers  of  civilization  to 
this  day.  Probably  some  companion  of  Liguest,  who  had  known  him 
from  his  infancy  under  the  appellation  of  Laclede,  and  accompanied  him 
from  France  to  New  Orleans,  called  him  by  that  name,  which  became 
henceforward  his  title  among  his  new  friends  and  followers. 

It  has  been  said  by  some,  that  it  was  the  custom  of  the  French  at  that 
early  day  to  transpose  their  names  at  pleasure,  and,  to  confirm  this  decla- 
ration, it  is  asserted  that  Louis  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive,  the  first  com- 
mandant of  St.  Louis,  in  all  his  signatures  to  the  grants  he  made,  signed 
himself  St.  Ange.  This  is  no  support  to  the  evidently  erratic  idea  of 
such  a  custom  prevailing.  De  Bellerive  was  evidently  a  titled  name,  and 
in  his  signatures  he  had  a  right  exclusively  to  retain  it,  or  link  it  with 
his  first  and  family  name,  or  even  to  drop  it  altogether.  His  signatures 
show  that  he  did  the  latter;  he  signing  himself  simply  St.  Ange,  which 
was  his  patronymic. 

Some  of  them,  having  an  honorable  title  appended  to  their  family 
names,  pursued  an  entirely  contrary  course.  La  Salle,  whose  untitled 
name  was  Robert  Cavelier,  always  signed  himself  La  Salle,  dropping 
altogether  his  patronymic.  But  there  is  no  instance  on  record  where 
the  titled  name  and  family  name  are  both  dropped,  and  cither  the  first 
•  or  middle  name  signed.  From  conclusive  recorded  facts,  we  must 
henceforth  reject  the  name  of  Laclede  as  the  family  name  of  the  founder 
of  St.  Louis,  and  adopt  the  proper  one  of  Liguest.  We  will  now 
proceed  to  give  some  of  the  instruments  to  which  Liguest  has  affixed 
his  signature.  There  is  a  deed  No.  9  in  the  armory  of  the  French  and 
Spanish  Archives,  in  which  there  is  a  conveyance  of  a  house  and  lot  by 
Liguest  to  Madame  Chouteau,  for  the  benefit  of  her  children.  The 
grantor  signs  himself  Laclede  Liguest.  The  deed  is  dated  May  12th, 
1768.  There  are  two  more  deeds  among  these  ancient  records,  num- 
bering 38  and  39,  in  which  his  name  is  signed  in  the  same  manner — one 
a  conveyance  to  Jacques  Noise,  alias  Labbe,  dated  December  10th,  1768, 
and  the  other,  No.  201,  a  conveyance  to  Ignace  Laroche,  dated  May 
15th,  1768.  In  the  Livre  Terrein,  Piernas  confirms  all  the  cessions  of  St. 
Ange  de  Bellerive,  and  among  the  other  signatures  to  the  instrument 
appears  that  of  Liguest.  We  could  give  a  dozen  more  instances;  in 
some  of  which  he  signs  his  name  Pierre  Laclede  Liguest.  In  all  of 
his  signatures,  he  claims  Liguest  as  his  family  name. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

A  General  View  of  the  Great  West. — Its  Early 
History  aud  Settlement. — Its  General  Resources 
and  Curiosities. .  ,  65 


History  of  the  St.  Louis  Press 163 

X'VA.Xl.T    XXX. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Laclede  Liguest  and  his  companions  start  from  New 
Orleans,  August,  1763,  and  arrive  at  St.  Gene- 
vieve  in  November. — Leave  St.  Genevieve  and 
go  to  Fort  do  Chartres. — He  makes  a  Voyage  of 
Discovery  to  the  Mouth  of  the  Missouri. — Selects  the  spot  for  his  Trading  Post. 
— Settlement  of  St.  Louis,  February  15,  1764.  Visit  of  the  Missouri  Indians. — 
Treaty  of  1763. — Secret  Treaty  between  France  and  Spain. — Increase  of  St. 
Louis. — Early  Habits  of  the  Settlers — Rage  of  the  people  when  informed  of  the 
secret  treaty. — Arrival  of  Louis  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive  at  St.  Louis. — Granting 
of  laud. — Popularity  of  the  commandant. — The  attachment  of  the  Indians  to 
the  French  — Their  hatred  of  the  English. — Laying  out  of  St.  Louis. — Its  ex- 
tent in  176-1  and  1780. — Its  appearance  before  any  buildings  were  erected. — 
Style  of  Dwellings. — Names  of  principal  inhabitants. — Grant  made  to  Liguest 
of  the  land  on  which  he  first  commenced  to  build. — Grant  of  land  on  La  Petite 
Riviere. — Mills  built  thereon. — First  Mortgage. — First  Marriage. — Land  reserved 
for  Church. — First  Baptism — The  place  for  a  Public  Square. — Unfavorable  news 
from  New  Orleans. — The  arrival  of  Rios.— The  determination  of  the  inhabitants 
to  resist  Spanish  authority. — Rios  leaves  St.  Louis  when  the  news  reaches  him 
that  the  Spanish  commandant  was  driven  from  New  Orleans. — Joy  of  the  in- 
habitants.— The  Common  Fields. — Their  Regulations. — Names  of  Common  Fields. 
— Arrival  of  Pontiac. — His  Appearance. — His  Fame. — His  visit  to  Cahokia. — 
His  Assassination. — His  Burial  in  St.  Louis. — Extermination  of  the  Illinois  In- 
dians.— The  arrival  of  O'Reilly  in  New  Orleans. — His  reception  by  the  people. 
— Five  of  the  inhabitants  are  executed,  and  six  sent  to  the  dungeons  in  Cuba. 
— The  first  Church  is  built  in  St.  Louis. — Its  Consecration  by  Father  Gibault. — 
Arrival  of  Piernas  in  St.  Louis. — He  takes  possession  of  the  town. — French 
Domination  ceases  in  Louisiana .  238 


CHAPTER  II. 

Pedro  Piernas. — His  Policy. — His  Character. — His  Popularity. — Death  of  St.  Ange 
de  Bellerive. — His  Character. — His  Will. — Piernas  is  threatened  with  Assassina- 
tion by  an  Osage  chief. — Cruzat  becomes  Lieutenant-Governor. — The  American 
Revolution. — The  hatred  of  the  Spaniards  to  the  English. — Smuggled  Goods. — 
Ferry  across  the  Maramec. — Character  of  Cruzat. — Don  Fernando  de  Leyba.-  - 


60  CONTENTS. 


Death  of  Pierre  Laclede  Liguest. — His  Appearance. — His  Character. — Fear  of 
the  Indians. — Attack  on  St.  Louis. — L'annee  du  Coup. — Death  of  Don  Fernando 
de  Leyba. — Succeeded  by  Cartabona. — Arrival  of  Cruzat. — Flood  of  the  Missis- 
sippi.— The  Pirates  of  Grand  Tower. — Pirates  of  Cottonwood  Creek. — L'annee 
dus  dix  batteaux. — The  danger  from  Indians. — Pain  Court. — Administration  of 
Perez. — Trudeau  and  Delassus. — Large  Grants. — Fever  of  Speculation. — Napo- 
leon Bonaparte. — Cession  of  the  Province  of  Louisiana  to  France. — France  Sells 
it  to  the  United  States. — End  of  Spanish  Domination 260 

CHAPTER   III. 

French  Grants. — Spanish  Grants. — Partiality  for  the  Lands  containing  lead  ore, 
or  where  Salines  could  be  found. — The  danger  from  Indians  in  working  the 
Mines  and  Salines. — The  probability  of  many  fraudulent  claims. — Number  of 
Houses  in  St.  Louis  at  the  time  of  the  transfer  of  the  Province  of  Louisiana  to 
the  United  States. — How  the  Houses  were  built. — Description  of  the  principal 
Houses  and  Public  Buildings  in  the  Village  in  1804. — Baptism  of  Half-breeds 
and  an  Indian  Child. — Morals  of  the  Men  and  Women. — The  mode  of  determin- 
ing Disputes. — The  Customs,  Habits,  and  Pleasures  of  the  Inhabitants. — Names 
of 'the  chief  Merchants,  Traders,  and  Tradesmen  at  the  time  of  the  Cession  to 
the  United  States. — The  locality  of  the  Residences  of  the  principal  Inhabitants. 
— Prices  of  Goods. — Monsieur  Tardiff  and  Cevreuil 280 

CHAPTER  IV. 

St.  Louis  under  the  United  States  Government. — Major  Stoddard. — General  Wilk- 
inson.— Lieutenant  Pike. — Lewis  and  Clarke. — The  Increase  of  Population  of 
the  Town. — The  Establishment  of  a  Post-Office. — The  Missouri  Gazette. — The 
Trial  of  Indian  Murderers. — The  Delaware  and  Shawnee  Indians  near  Cape 
Girardeau. — The  first  Man  hung  in  St.  Louis. — Death  of  Governor  Meriwether 
Lewis. — Government  of  St.  Louis. — Singular  Ordinances  — The  Mails. — The 
Population  and  Business  of  the  City. — Curious  Advertisements. — The  Old 
Market  built. — Louisiana  Territory  changed  to  Missouri  Territory. — The  Mis- 
souri Fur  Company. — The  manner  of  the  organization  of  Fur  Companies. — 
Anecdotes  related  by  a  Trader. — Trouble  with  the  Indians  in  1812  from  British 
instigation. — Influence  of  General  Clarke  over  them. — A  Travelling  Magician. 
— Bank  of  St.  Louis. — Bank  of  Missouri. — St.  Louis  Prices  Current. — Expendi- 
ture of  St.  Louis. — Formation  of  the  Missouri  Bible  Society 291 

CHAPTER   V. 

Duel  between  Thomas  C.  Rector  and  Joshua  Barton. — The  latter  Killed. — Fur 
Companies. — Battle  with  the  Indians. — Disastrous  Defeat  of  the  Whites. — Fred- 
erick Bates  elected  Governor. — Visit  of  Lafayette. — Route  Surveyed  to  New 
Mexico. — Consecration  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  — General  Miller  elected 
Governor. — Arsenal  built. — Streets  named — Stampede  from  the  Jail. — Market 
built. — Benevolent  Societies. — Branch  Bank  of  the  United  States. — Improve-  • 
ments  and  changes  in  St.  Louis. — Impeachment  of  Judge  Peck. — Population  in 
1831. — Fatal  Duel. — Black  Hawk  War. — Love  of  the  Inhabitants  of  St.  Louis 
for  Politics. — Conduct  of  the  People  at  the  news  of  the  Veto  to  the  Recharteriiig 
of  the  United  States  Bank. — The  Cholera, — Trial  of  Judge  Carr. — Judge  Merry 
elected  Mayor. — His  Election  declared  Unconstitutional. — Building  of  a  Hospi- 
tal for  the  Sisters  of  Charity. — Sale  of  the  City  Commons. — Gamblers. — Inter- 
nal Improvement  Convention. — Burning  of  a  Negro  Murderer 332 

CHAPTER  VI. 

St.  Louis  in  1837. — Act  to  Incorporate  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri. — Its 
Commissioners. — Its  'first  Directors. — The  Bar  vs.  the  Bench. — Daniel  Webster 
and  family  visit  St.  Louis. — Their  Reception. — Speech  of  Webster. — The  great 
Financial  Crisis  of  1837. — Suspension  of  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri. — 


CONTENTS.  61 


Ruin  of  Business. — Death  of  David  Barton. — Murder  of  Thomas  M.  Dougherty. 
— Whig  Vigilance  Committee. — Death  of  General  William  Clark. — Kemper 
College  built. — Meeting  of  the  principal  Mechanics. —  Establishment  of  a 
Criminal  Court. — Building  of  Christ  Church. — Incorporation  of  the  St.  Louis 
Hotel  Company,  who  built  the  Planters'  House. — Morns  Multicaidis  fever. — 
Missouri  Silk  Company  Incorporated. — Extent  of  St.  Louis. — Incorporation  of  a 
Gas-Light  Company. — Boundary  Question  between  Missouri  and  Iowa. — Diffi- 
culty with  Illinois  concerning  removal  of  a  Sand-bar. — Laying  Corner-stone  of 
an  addition  to  Court-house. — Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri  throws  out  all  the 
notes  of  the  Banks  not  paying  specie. — Distress  in  Business. — Corner-stone  of 
St.  Louis  College  laid. — Proprietor  of  the  Argus  beaten. — Dies. — Trial  of  Wil- 
liam P.  Darnes. — Number  of  Insurance  Offices  in  St.  Louis. — Murder,  Fire,  and 
Arson. — The  Discovery  of  the  Murderers. — Their  Trial  and  Conviction. — Their 
Attempt  to  Escape. — Their  Execution. — Synopsis  of  the  Business  Statistics  of 
St.  Louis 358 

CHAPTER  VII. 

La3'ing  of  the  Corner-stone  of  the  Centenary  Church. — Death  of  General  Atkin- 
son.— Of  Judge  Lucas. — Opening  of  the  Glascow  House. — Execution  on  Dun- 
can's Island.-^Arrival  of  Audubon  at  St.  Louis. — Arrival  of  Richard  M.  John- 
son, of  Kentucky. — Death  of  Major  John  Pilcher. — Death  of  Judge  Engle. — 
Arrival  of  Macready  — His  Dramatic  Popularity. — Forrest. — Hackett. — Arrival 
of  Professor  Silliman. — Of  Josiah  Quincy,  jr. — Briskness  of  Trade  in  St.  Louis. 
— Unparalleled  Rise  in  the  Mississippi. — The  Waters  Overflow  the  Levee,  and 
fill  the  first  stories  of  the  Buildings. — Consternation  of  the  Inhabitants. — Re- 
ports from  the  Illinois  and  Missouri  Rivers. — More  than  five  hundred  destitute 
families  quartered  in  the' City. — Philanthropy  of  the  Citizens. — The  Three  Great 
Floods. — Buildings  put  up  in  1844 — Death  of  Colonel  Sublette. — Constitution 
Revised. — Mercantile  Library. — Death  of  Mrs.  Biddle. — Her  Monument. — Her 
Charities. — Harbor  Obstructions. — War  with  Mexico. — Great  Excitement. — St. 
Louis  Legion. — Patriotic  feeling  and  actions  of  the  Citizens. — Consecration  of 
Odd  Fellows'  Hall.— Pork-Packing :.  378 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Incorporation  of  Boatmen's  Saving  Institution. — Celebration  of  the  Anniversary  of 
the  Founding  of  St.  Louis. — The  Great  Procession. — Pierre  Chouteau. — The  Ad- 
dress delivered  by  Wilson  Primm,  Esq. — The  Dinner  at  the  Planters'  House. 
— The  Great  Illumination  of  the  City  in  honor  of  General  Taylor's  Victories. 
— An  eagle  loosed  from  its  cage. — Great  Famine  in  Scotland  and  Ireland. — 
Meeting  of  the  Inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  to  afford  Relief  to  those  Countries. — 
The  Magnetic  Telegraph. — Interest  in  Railroads. — Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rail- 
road.— Complimentary  Dinner  to  General  Shields. — General  Taylor  a  favorite 
with  the  People  of  St.  Louis. — They  determine  to  run  him  for  the  Presidency. 
— News  of  the  outbreak  in  Paris. — Meeting  of  the  Citizens- — Louis  Napoleon. 
— Lamartine. — Death  of  Edward  Charless. — General  Kearney.  —  Cholera  appears. 
— Purchase  of  Belle  Fontaine  Cemetery. — Great  Fire — Twenty-three  Steamboats 
consumed. — Whole  blocks  of  houses  destroyed. — Three  millions  of  property 
consumed. — Death  of  T.  B.  Targee. — Building  again  Commenced. — Main  street 
Widened. — Reappearance  of  the  Cholera. — Its  Mortality. — Disagreement  of  the 
Doctors. — City  Council  forbid  the  sale  of  Vegetables. —  Revoke  the  Act. — 
Fatality  of  the  Disease  among  the  Emigrants. — Quarantine  Established. — The 
effect  of  the  Fire  and  Cholera  upon  St.  Louis. — The  Resumption  of  Business  on 
a  more  extensive  scale. — Prosperous  Indications. — National  Pacific  Railroad 
Convention. — St.  Louis  Medical  College  built. — Tragedy  at  the  City  Hotel. — 
Two  French  noblemen  Arrested. — Their  Trial  and  Acquittal 395 


LIST  OF  BIOGRAPHIES. 


PAGE 

Colonel  John  O'Fallon 79 

John  Sappington. ...    85 

Hon.  Edward  Bates 86 

Henry  Von  Phul,  Esq 90 

Hon.  John  F.  Darby 94 

Kenneth  Mackenzie,  Esq 98 

Samuel  Gaty,  Esq 102 

Col.  Thornton  Grimsley 106 

Col.  Lewis  V.  Bogy     110 

Captain  John  Siraonds 114 

George  R.  Taylor,  Esq 119 

Adolphus  Meier,  Esq 123 

Hon.  Trusten  Polk 124 

Bernard  Pratte,  Esq 128 

Henry  D.  Bacon,  Esq 132 

Peter  G.  Carnden,  Esq 136 

Robert  M.  Funkhauser,  Esq 140 

Dr.  M.  L.  Linton 144 

Hon.  James  S.  Green 149 

Hon.  Luther  M.  Ke'nnett  153 

Samuel  B.  Wiggins,  Esq 157 

John  Hogan,  Esq 158 

St.  Louis  Press 163 

Nathaniel  Paschall,  Esq 167 

A.  P.  Ladew,  Esq 169 

Col.  George  Knapp 170 

Col.  Charles  Keemle 171 

Abram  S.  Mitchell,  Esq 173 

William  McKee,  Esq 175 

George  W.  Fishback,  Esq 176 

James  II..  Lucas,  Esq 185 

Robert  A.  Barnes,  Esq 188 

Louis  A.  Benoist,  Esq 193 

Col.  Joshua  B.  Brant 197 

Capt.  John  J.  Roe 201 

Gen.  Nathan  Ranney 202 

Theron  Barnum,  Esq 206 

Dr.  Anderson 210 

Sullivan  Blood,  Esq 215 

John  A.  Brownlee,  Esq 219 

Henry  A  mes,  Esq 223 

Henry  T.  Blow,  Esq 224 

Rev.  Dr.  M.  McAnally 228 

George  Partridge,  Esq 233 

William  Glasgow,  Jr.,  Esq 237 


PAGE 

Peter  Lindell,  Esq 421 

Brig.  Gen.  Daniel  Marsh  Frost 427 

Marinus  Willett  Warne,  Esq 428 

Washington  King,  Esq 432 

Thomas  Allen,  Esq 437 

Isaac  Rosenfeld,  Jr ,  Esq 440 

Richard  H.  Cole,  Esq 445 

William  G.  Clark,  Esq 44<> 

Hon.  John  Richard  Barret 450 

Gerard  B.  Allen,  Esq 454 

William  L.  Ewing,  Esq 459 

Louis  A.  Lebaume,  Esq ,  . .   460 

Rev.  S.  B.  McPheeters 467 

Isaac  H.  Sturgeon,  Esq  468 

John  D.  Daggett,  Esq 472 

Rev.  Truman  Marcellus  Post 476 

William  T.  Christy,  Esq 481 

Thomas  A.  Bucklarid,  Esq 485 

Edward  Walsh,  Esq 489 

Jonathan  Jones,  Esq 493 

F.  S.  Ridgely,  Esq 494 

John  H.  Gay,  Esq 499 

Alonzo  Child,  Esq 503 

Dr.  Charles  A.  Pope 507 

Robert  Earth,  Esq 503 

John  Withnell,  Esq 513 

The  Filley  Family 515 

Madame  Elizabeth  Ones 529 

The  Chouteau  Family 533 

Pierre  Chouteau,  Esq 536 

The  Soulard  Family 541 

James  G.  Soulard,  Esq 542 

The  Right  Reverend  Cicero  Stephens 

Hawks,  D.  D   544 

John  S.  McCune,  Esq 551 

Hon.  John  Marshall  Krum 555 

Henry  Boernstein,  Esq 556 

Hon.  Francis  P.  Blair,  Jr 560 

Alexander  Kayser,  Esq 564 

Major  Henry  S.  Turner '. . .   569 

Dr.  William  Carr  Lane 571 

John  J.  Anderson,  Esq 575 

B.  W.  Alexander,  Esq 579 

Aaron  W.  Fagin,  Esq. . ,   580 

Joseph  Charless,  Esq 584 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

Presentation  Plate,  (facing  Title). 
View  on  Lucas  Place        do. 

Jewish  Synagogue 50 

Portrait  of  Kichard  Edwards 52 

Lindell  House 56 

Old  Spanish  Fort 57 

Gay's  Buildings 64 

St.'  Louis 65 

Braddock's  Battle  Field 65 

View  of  Pittsburgh 67 

Father  Marquette  introducing  Juliet  to 

the  Indians 63 

View  of  Cincinnati  from  Mt.  Auburn.     69 

Bird's  Eye  View  of  Chicago 71 

View  of  the  Citv  of  Milwaukee,  Wis. .     73 
Bird's  Eye  View  of  the  City  of  Detroit,    75 

Portrait  of  Col.  John  O'Fallon 77 

"          John  Sappington,  Esq 83 

"          Hon.  Edward  Bates 87,  589 

Henry  Von  Phul,  Esq 91 

"         Hon.'  John  F.  Darby ; 95 

"         Kenneth  Mackenzie,  Esq. .     99 

"         Samuel  Gaty,  Esq 103 

"         Col.  Thornton  Grimsley...  107 

"         Col.  Lewis  V.  Bogy Ill 

"          Capt.  John  Simonds 115 

"          George  B.  Taylor,'  Esq ....  117 

"         Adolphus  Meier,  Esq 121 

"         Hon.  Trusteu  Polk 125 

"         Bernard  Pratte,  Esq 129 

"         Henry  D.  Bacon,  Esq 133 

"         Peter  G.  Camden,  Esq ....  137 
"         Eob'tM.Funkhauser,  Esq.  141 

"          Dr.  M.  L.  Linton 145 

"         Hon.  James  S.  Green 147 

"         Hon.  Luther  M.  Kennett..   151 
"         Samuel  B.  Wiggins,  Esq. .  155 

"          John  Hogan.  Esq 159 

"         St.  Louis  Editors,  viz. :  La- 
dew,  Knapp,  M'Kee,  Pas- 
chall,  Keemle,  Mitchell.  163 
"         James  F.  Lucas,  Esq ......  183 

"          Robert  A.  Barnes,  Esq 189 

"         Louis  A.  Benoist,  Esq 191 

"         Col.  Joshua  B.  Brant 195 

"          Capt.  John  J.  Eoe 197 

"         Gen.  Nathan  Eanney 203 

"          Theron  Barnum,  Esq 207 

"         Kev.  S.  J.  P.  Anderson,.D.D.  211 

"          Sullivan  Blood,  Esq 213 

"         John  A.  Brownlee,  Esq. . .   217 

"         Henry  Ames,  Esq 221 

"         Henry  T.  Blow,  Esq 225 

"         George  Partridge,  Esq 231 

"         William  Glasgow,  Jr.,  Esq.  235 
Bird's  Eye  View  of  City  of  St.  Louis..  239 

St.  John's  Church 250 

Missouri  Institute  for  the  Blind 250 

View  on  Fourth  Street 251 

St.  Louis  High  School 266 

First  Congregational  Church 266 

View  on  Main  Street 267 

Church  of  the  Messiah 282 

Concordia  College 282 

Graham  &  Newman's  New  Building..  283 

Bank  of  St.  Louis  283 

Custom  House  and  Post  Office 283 

Union  Presbyterian  Church 298 


PAGE 

O'Fallon  Polytechnic  Institute 298 

Washington  University 299 

First  Methodist  Epis.  Church,  South  .   299 

Submarine  Steamer 314 

Missouri  Medical  College 314 

Christian  Brothers'  School 814 

New  Masonic  Hall 815 

Mercantile  Library  Hall  Building 815 

Normal  School ' 330 

t.  Paul's  Eoiscopal  Church 330 

Old  Houses 331 

First  Presbyterian  Ch.,  Lucas  I'lace. .   381 

View  on  Lucas  Place 846 

St.  Louis  University 346 

Second  Baptist  Church 347 

City  University 347 

Second  Presbyterian  Church 362 

Christ  Church 362 

Centenary  Methodist  Epis.  Church...  368 

Old  Eussell  Man«iou 363 

Portrait  of  Peter  Lindell,  Esq 419 

"          General  Frost : 425 

M.  W.  Warne,  Esq 429 

"          Washington  King,  Esq... .  4&3 

Thomas  Allen,  Esq 435 

Isaac  Rosenfeld,  Jr 441 

Eichard  H.  Cole,  Esq 443 

William  G.  Clark,  Esq 447 

Hon.  John  Barret 451 

Gerard  B.  Allen,  Esq 455 

William  L.  E  wing,  Esq 457 

Louis  A.  Lebaume,  Esq. . .   461 

Eev.  S.  B.  McPheeters 465 

Isaac  H.  Sturgeon,  Esq 469 

John  D.  Daggett,  Esq 473 

Eev.  Truman  M.  Post 477 

William  T.  Christy,  Esq..  479 
Thomas  A.  Buckland,  Esq.  483 

Edward  Walsh,  Esq 487 

Jonathan  Jones,  Esq 491 

F.  L.  Eidgely 495 

John  H.  Gay,  Esq 497 

Alonzo  Child,  Esq'. 501 

Dr.  Charles  A.  Pope 505 

"          Robert  Earth,  Esq 509 

"         John  Withnell,  Esq. 511 

Original  map  of  St.  Louis , 519 

Portrait  of  Madame  Elizabeth  Ortes. .   527 

"         Pierre  Chouteau,  Esq 531 

Barnum's  Hotel 534 

Old  Chouteau  Mansion 534 

P(  rtrait  of  James  G.  Soulard,  Esq 537 

"         Bishop  Hawks 545 

"         John  S.  McCune,  Esq 549 

"          Hon.  J.  M.  Krum 553 

"         H.  Boernstein,  Esq 557 

Hon.  F.  P.  Blair,  jr 561 

A.  Kayser,  Esq 565 

Major 'H.  S.  Turner 567 

J.  J.  Anderson,  Esq 573 

B.  W.  Alexander,  Esq  ....   577 

A.  W.  Fagin,  Esq 571 

J.  Charless,  Esq 585 

Hon.  Edward  Bates 589 

Portraits  of  governors  and  mayors  of 
St.  Louis,  viz. :  McNair,  Stewart, 
Lane,  and  Filley 604 


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THE  GKEAT  WEST 


HER    COMMERCIAL    METROPOLIS, 
PART    I. 


CHAPTER     I. 

A    GENERAL    VIEW    OF   THE    GREAT    WEST. — ITS    EARLY    HISTORY    AND    SET- 
TLEMENT.  ITS    GENERAL    RESOURCES    AND    CURIOSITIES. 

A  CENTURY  ago  all  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  was  a  wild, 
untravelled  and  unknown  by  the  white  man,  and  the  home  of  the  Indian, 
then  enjoying  the  Avild  independence  incident  to  his  mode  of  life,  and 
uncontaminated  by  the  vices  of  civilization. 


BKADDOCK  S    BATTLE-FIELD     NEAB    PITTSBURGH. 


In  the  month  of  July,  1755,  a  gallant  array,  under  the  command  of  a 
gallant  general  fresh  from  the  Albion  Isle,  was  marching  through  a  dreary 
wilderness,  with  slow  and  toilsome  progress,  being  compelled  to  cut  its 
way  through  a  forest  which  impeded  its  advance,  and  which  for  ages  had 
formed  a  secure  cover  for  the  panther,  the  bear,  the  deer,  and  the  wild 
sons  of  the  forest,  who  sought  in  the  chase  these  animals  for  their  sub- 
2 


66  THE   GREAT   WEST,    ETC. 

sistcnce.  The  army  was  commanded  by  General  Braddock,  and  the 
object  was  the  reduction  of  Fort  Duquesne,  then  in  the  possession  of  the 
French,  and  on  the  site  where  the  flourishing  city  of  Pittsburgh  now 
stands.  How  that  gallant  army  was  surprised  in  the  narrow  defiles  of 
the  mountains  by  a  large  force  of  the  French  and  Indians,  and  their 
commander  mortally  wounded,  and  was  buried  in  the  unknown  wilds, 
belongs  not  to  the  province  of  this  work  to  depict.  The  fact  has  been 
merely  touched  upon  to  illustrate  our  design,  and  to  strengthen  by  an 
historical  allusion  our  subsequent  narrative. 

A  century  and  four  years  have  elapsed  since  that  period.  The  tall 
forests  have  been  felled ;  the  howling  of  the  wild  beasts  has  long  since 
ceased  to  be  heard ;  the  red  men  that  owned  these  vast  regions  have  all 
disappeared,  and  are  only  known  to  the  present  inhabitants  from  the 
pages  of  history  and  the  wild  memorials  of  uncertain  tradition.  Crops 
and  gardens,  fruits  and  flowers,  thrifty  villages  and  large  cities  now 
flourish  on  the  land  where  then  waved  a  primitive  wilderness. 

It  was  many  years  after  the  defeat  of  Braddock ;  and  the  country  had 
been  ceded  by  the  French  to  England,  and  the  latter  country  had  also 
lost  her  rich  provinces  in  her  turn  by  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  before 
Pittsburgh,  now  one  of  the  most  considerable  manufacturing  towns  in 
the  Union,  was  laid  out.  In  1784  the  town  was  planned  and  named. 
Previous  to  that  time  it  was  Fort  Duquesne.  It  now  contains  more 
than  150,000  inhabitants,  and  is  noted  for  its  iron  manufactures  and  the 
extent  of  its  coal  exportations  ;  in  this  last-named  business  there  are  more 
than  five  thousand  hands  employed. 

Let  us  look  from  the  Iron  City  a  little  farther  west.  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois  and  Missouri  spread  over  the  vast  area  with  their  fertile  terri- 
tories ;  their  inhabitants  are  marked  for  their  enterprise  and  intelligence  ; 
vast  cities  adorn  the  shores  of  the  lakes  and  the  margins  of  the  extensive 
rivers;  flourishing  villages  everywhere  dot  the  prairies;  railroads  run 
through  every  part;  and  all  the  rays  of  refined  civilization  radiate  in 
every  direction  through  their  extensive  domains. 

Let  us  go  farther  back  in  the  track  of  Time,  when  the  wild  buffalo 
roamed  over  the  vast  prairies,  and  the  ploughshare  of  the  white  man  had 
not  torn  the  virgin  turf.  In  the  year  1673,  at  the  farthest  point  on  the 
Fox  River  ever  visited  by  a  white  man,  there  were  assembled  in  council 
the  chiefs  of  the  Miamies,  the  Macoutins,  and  other  neighboring  tribes ; 
and  among  them  were  two  Frenchmen,  accompanied  by  five  of  their  own 
nation  and  two  Algonquin  Indians.  The  two  leaders  were  Father  Mar- 
quette,  a  monk  and  missionary  from  France,  and  M.  Joliet,  a  French 
trader  of  daring  courage  and  enterprise.  According  to  the  wishes  of  the 
Governor  of  Canada  they  were  then  on  their  way  to  discover  the  great 
Mississippi,  whose  existence  was^vaguely  known  to  the  Indians  in  Canada; 
and  from  the  reports  of  its  magnitude,  the  whites  thought  to  be  identical 
with  the  great  river  discovered  many  hundred  miles  farther  south,  by  De 
ooto,  more  than  a  century  before  ;  or,  it  may  be,  flowing  into  the  Pacific 
Ocean. 

Father  Marquette  and  Joliet  had  stopped  at  that  point  to  gather  what- 
ever information  they  could  obtain  regarding  the  perilous  journey,  and 
also,  if  possible,  to  get  some  assistance. 

Father  Marquette  for  many  years  had  been  a  dweller  among  the  In- 


HER   COMMERCIAL    METROPOLIS. 


68 


THE   GKEAT   WEST,    ETC. 


dians,  and  such  was  his  meekness,  his  patience  and  his  goodness,  that  he 
was  more  adored  than  loved  by  the  untutored  tribes  with  which  he 
dwelt.  In  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the  representative  of  his  king 
in  America,  and  to  carry  into  still  more  remote  wilds  the  name  and  his- 
tory of  his  Redeemer,  he  undertook,  with  M.  Joliet,  the  perilous  adven- 
ture. When  the  chiefs  met  in  their  great  council  he  fearlessly  stood 
among  them.  "My  companion,"  said  he,  "is  an  envoy  from  France  to 


FATHER  MARQUETTE   INTRODUCING  JOLIET  TO  THE   INDIANS. 

discover  new  countries,  and  I  am  an  ambassador  from  God  to  enlighten 
them  with  the  gospel."  These  distant  Indians  treated  them  with  the 
most  marked  respect,  but  did  all  they  could  to  deter  them  from  a  con- 
tinuance of  their  voyage.  They  told  them  that  the  river  was  filled  with 
strange  monsters  which  would  devour  them,  and  that  the  tribes  of  Indians 
that  inhabited  its  banks  were  cruel  and  hostile  to  strangers.  Finding  all 
of  their  dissuasions  fruitless,  they  assisted  them  to  carry  their  little  canoes 
over  the  narrow  portage  which  divides  the  Wisconsin  from  the  Fox  River, 


HEK   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS. 


70  THE   GREAT   WEST,    ETC. 


and  left  them  on  the  banks  of  the  first  mentioned  river,  expecting  never 
to  look  upon  them  again. 

It  was  the  tenth  of  June,  1673,  that  they  glided  down  the  stream  of 
the  Wisconsin,  sometimes  skirted  with  prairies  stretching  far  in  the  dis- 
tance like  a  vast  sea,  until  blended  with  and  lost  in  the  horizon ;  and 
sometimes  the  thick  forest,  waved  over  the  margin,  bounding  and  impeding 
the  vision  with  its  thickness.  On  the  seventeenth,  they  saw  the  "  Father  of 
Waters,"  and  chanted  the  Me  Exaiullat  and  De  Profundis  on  his  eddying 
current ;  and  in  a  few  days  afterward  had  a  conference  with  the  Illinois 
Indians.  It  was  from  this  tribe  that  the  nourishing  state  of  Illinois 
takes  its  name,  and  the  word  is  very  suggestive — meaning,  in  the  signifi- 
cant language  of  the  Algonquins,  "  We  are  men." 

It  is  not  our  purpose  in  this  part  of  our  narrative  to  dwell  any  farther 
on  the  voyage  of  the  gentle  Marquctte,  or  disclose  more  of  his  history; 
in  another  portion  of  this  work,  when  we  will  thoroughly  treat  of  the 
Mississippi  valley,  we  will  give  a  full  description  of  the  life  of  this  self- 
sacrificing  missionary,  and  relate,  in  detail,  all  the  incidents  of  his  perilous 
undertaking.  At  present  we  are  merely  mentioning  these  first  pioneers 
of  the  wilderness  in  our  rapid  and  general  view  of  the  Great  West,  merely 
for  the  purpose  of  dating  the  era  of  the  advent  of  the  white  man  in  this 
important  part  of  our  Union. 

.  The  next  daring  spirit  who  ventured  in  those  unexplored  wilds  was 
Robert  Cavalier  de  La  Salle,  of  an  illustrious  family,  formerly  of  the 
order  of  Jesus  ;  but  who,  becoming  moved  by  the  spirit  of  chivalrous 
adventure,  had  forsaken  the  convent,  and  by  his  address  had  obtained 
from  his  sovereign,  Louis  XIV.  of  France,  the  right  to  discover,  subdue  and 
govern,  in  his  name,  a  country  stretching  over  an  immense  area,  yet  in  a 
state  of  nature,  and  inhabited  only  by  the  Indian.  We  find  him  on  the 
Illinois  river  in  the  autumn  of  the  year  1679,  accompanied  by  Father 
Hennepin  and  the  chivalrous  De  Tonti.  At  this  time  the  expedition  had 
nearly  all  perished ;  and  the  star  of  La  Salle,  which  had  just  arisen  on 
the  horizon  of  fame,  had  nearly  disappeared  as  soon  as  seen.  Famine  and 
winter  both  assailed  him;  discontent,  which  had  almost  broken  out  in 
open  mutiny,  prevailed  among  his  followers;  and  the  maladies  incident 
to  a  new  and  malarious  climate  had  thinned  their  numbers  and  reduced 
their  strength. 

Assailed  by  such  a  combination  of  misfortunes,  almost  any  other  nature 
but  the  iron  one  of  La  Salle,  had  yielded  to  the  force  of  circumstances, 
and  submitted  to  what  appeared  a  manifest  destiny ;  but  he,  self-reliant 
and  persevering,  roused  the  drooping  spirits  of  his  followers,  and  built  a 
fort  just  above  where  the  flourishing  city  of  Peoria  now  stands,  with  its 
twenty-five  thousand  inhabitants,  and  gave  it  the  significant  name  of 
Crcve-Coeur  (Broken  Heart).  His  fortunes  were  sombre  at  that  time,  and 
the  name  had  a  poetical  allusion. 

As  we  have  before  said,  it  is  not  now  intended  to  give  any  other  than 
a  passing  allusion  to  incidents  at  this  place,  and  therefore  we  will  not 
dwell  any  farther  at  the  present  on  the  explorations  and  voyages  of  this 
illustrious  Frenchman.  Let  it  suffice,  that  he  established  several  French 
posts  or  fortifications  in  the  state  of  Illinois,  which  formed  the  nuclei 
around  which  the  hardy  pioneers  from  Canada  could  settle  with  a  pros- 


HER    COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS. 


71 


TO, 


THE   GREAT  WEST,  ETC. 


pect  of  safety,  and  commenced  the  first  efforts  to  reclaim  the  wilderness, 
and  advance  the  cause  of  civilization. 

Attendant  upon  these  early  exhibitions  were  men  burning  with  a 
pious  zeal,  and  intent  only  to  light  the  torch  of  faith  in  the  wigwams  of 
the  savages,  who  dwelt  in  the  darkness  of  a  heathen  creed.  The  Jesuit 
missionaries  were  often  a  thousand  miles  in  advance  of  civilization,  and, 
armed  only  with  the  crucifix  and  breviary,  visited  the  most  savage  tribes, 
that  they  might  turn  them  from  a  mistaken  faith ;  teach  them  the  hopes 
and  blessings  revealed  in  the  Apocalypse;  and  by  degrees  curb  their 
savage  appetites  by  learning  them  the  gentle  amenities  of  life.  Without 
a  shudder,  they  sought  a  people  who  joyed  in  the  gratification  of  these 
bloody  instincts  ;  fearlessly  breathed  the  poisonous  malaria  arising 
from  the  rivers,  ponds  and  watercourses ;  and  without  a  murmur  or  a 
thought  of  regret,  lived  upon  roots  for  their  sustenance.  They  lived  a 
holy  life  and  devoted  it  to  the  enlightenment  of  their  benighted  brethren  ; 
and  when  they  died,  a  prayer  was  on  their  lips,  and  their  joyful  spirits, 
uncorrupted  by  the  impurities  of  earth,  winged  their  victorious  flight  to 
their  native  skies.  We  could  dwell  with  interest  and  admiration  on  the 
trials,  sufferings  and  labors  of  these  holy  and  undefiled  men,  but  in  this 
general  sketch  it  would  occupy  more  space  than  is  consistent  with  our 
intention.  The  names  of  Fathers  Mesnard,  Allouez,  Marquette,  Kasles, 
Gravier,  Marest,  and  many  others,  are  interwoven  with  the  early  history 
of  the  Western  wilds,  and  their  goodness,  rectitude  and  Christian  virtues 
gleam  brightly,  when  contrasted  with  the  dark  selfishness  and  cruelty 
which  subsequently  characterized  the  conduct  of  the  white  men  in  their 
intercourse  with  the  savages. 

The  great  states  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Missouri,  were  first 
settled  by  the  French,  Ohio  by  emigrants  chiefly  from  the  Eastern  and 
middle  states,  and  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  by  natives  from  Virginia  and 
the  Carolinas.  It  has  only  been  since  the  Revolutionary  war  that  the 
Great  West  of  the  Union  occupied  to  any  extent  the  public  mind,  and 
that  her  great  natural  resources  became  known  and  partially  developed. 
We  will  take  a  transient  glance  at  some  of  her  large  cities,  and  see  how 
many  years  they  have  been  growing  to  their  present  magnitude  and 
importance. 

Cincinnati,  now  containing  more  than  two  hundred  thousand  inhabi- 
tants, was  founded  in  1789.  Louisville,  in  1788,  contained  but  thirty 
inhabitants;  Milwaukee,  in  1834,  contained  only  twenty  houses;  the  first 
house  was  erected  in  St.  Louis  in  1764  ;  and  Chicago,  with  its  160,000 
inhabitants,  was  laid  out  in  1830.  In  the  fertile  state  of  Illinois,  now 
with  her  thousand  miles  of  railroad  in  operation,  and  numbering  now  a 
million  of  souls,  the  population  in  1812  was  but  little  more  than  twelve 
thousand  inhabitants;  and  all  over  the  great  West,  the  flourishing  cities 
that  adorn  the  banks,  and  pulsate  with  all  the  healthful  elements  of  busi- 
ness prosperity,  were  but  the  growth  of  yesterday.  Less  than  a  century 
ago  the  elk  and  the  buffalo  roamed  over  the  wide  prairies,  and  the  red 
men,  in  their  wild  independence,  sounded  their  warwhoop  and  prayed 
to  their  Manitos.  The  whole  country,  stretching  from  the  Alleghany  to 
the  Mississippi,  has  filled  up  in  a  shorter  time  than  ever  regions  did 
before,  and  now  the  great  West  is  the  granary  of  the  Union,  and  to  it 
the  enterprising  of  all  classes,  conditions  and  avocations,  not  only  from 


HEK   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS. 


73 


74:  THE    GREAT    WEST,    ETC. 


our  Atlantic  cities,  but  from  the  European  continent,  flock  in  almost  in- 
credible numbers,  to  better  their  fortunes  and  increase  the  population  of 
the  favored  regions. 

The  number  of  bushels  of  wheat,  corn,  oats,  barley  and  rye,  shipped 
from  Chicago  the  last  year,  reached  the  astounding  number  of  18,032,676 
bushels ;  and  the  number  of  surplus  hogs,  raised  in  the  West  at  the  same 
period,  amounted  to  1,818,468 — the  value  of  which  would  exceed 
§30,000,000.  The  number  of  cattle  sent  from  the  rich  prairies  to  the 
Eastern  markets  is  almost  incredible,  and  the  trade  in  alcohol  and 
whiskey  is,  unfortunately  for  the  good  of  mankind,  immense — Cincinnati 
alone  distilling  half  a  million  of  barrels  annually. 

The  mineral  resources  until  recently  were  comparatively  unknown,  and 
even  now  they  are  not  fully  developed.  Coal,  iron  and  lead  exist  in  large 
deposits  in  almost  every  state  of  the  West.  Rich  veins  of  copper  are 
also  found,  and  California,  Oregon,  and  their  contiguous  regions,  now 
furnish  such  annual  yields  of  our  most  precious  metal,  that  gold,  which 
was  formerly  carefully  garnered  in  the  Eastern  cities,  and  kept  for  com- 
mercial purposes,  has  almost  become  the  natural  currency  in  every  por- 
tion of  the  Union,  and  has  given  an  increased  vitality  to  every  branch  of 
national  industry. 

A  score  of  years  past  emigration  rarely  passed  the  Eastern  bounds  of 
the  Mississippi  River,  but  since  the  annexation  of  California,  so  as  to  pro- 
mote a  direct  intercourse  between  that  rich  and  important  country  and 
its  sister  states,  an  overland  mail  route  has  been  established  between  St. 
Louis  and  San  Francisco,  a  distance  of  2,795  miles,  which  will  attract 
attention  to  that  extensive  intervening  country,  and  soon  its  resources 
will  be  developed  by  an  enterprising  emigration.  Railroads  are  gradually 
extending  toward  the  setting  sun,  and  the  whistles  of  the  ponderous 
engines,  with  their  rushing  trains,  will  ere  long  be  heard  where  the  waves 
of  the  vast  Pacific  wash  our  Western  borders.  When  that  great  con- 
necting link,  with  its  various  branches,  will  have  been  finished,  and  not 
until  then,  will  the  wealth  and  resources  of  the  "  Great  West "  be  fully 
unfolded,  and  its  importance  be  fully  displayed  to  the  world.  Even  now, 
as  we  before  observed,  it  is  the  granary  of  the  Union,  and  principally 
feeds  the  crowded  manufacturing  and  commercial  cities  of  the  East,  and 
supplies  the  rich  cotton  and  sugar  plantations  of  the  South  with  the 
stamina  of  subsistence. 

The  exports  from  the  United  States  in  the  year  1857  amounted  to 
the  enormous  sum  of  338,987,065  dollars — the  value  of  our  domestic 
commerce.  Of  this  the  valuation  of  wheat  was  $22,240,857 ;  in  flour, 
§25,882,316,  and  in  Indian  corn,  $5,184,666.  This  immense  aggregate 
of  the  three  great  staples  of  the  West,  amounting  to  more  than  $5 3,- 
000,000,  that  was  exported  in  produce,  must  have  all  come  from  those 
fertile  regions,  left  of  the  superabundance,  after  affording  a  supply  to  the 
East  and  South. 

It  is  something  surprising  in  the  history  of  the  West,  that  all  of  the 
first  settlements  should  have  never  obtained,  at  a  subsequent  day,  any 
respectable  sizo,  or  business  importance.  Green  Bay,  Calokia,  Kaskaskia, 
Creve-Coeur,  Fort  Chartres,  and  St.  Vincent's,  (now  Vincennes)  which 
were  the  earliest  settlements  in  the  West,  have  not  only  been  far  out- 
stripped by  cities  of  recent  birth,  but  most  of  them  have  fallen  into  a  state 


AND   HER    COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS. 


B 


76 


THE   GREAT   WEST.   ETQ. 


of  decline,  and  some  into  ruins.  Creve-Cceur  is  no  more,  and  Fort  de 
Chartres,  which  at  the  time  it  was  built  was  more  than  a  half  mile  from 
the  river,  is  now  wholly  abandoned,  and  the  rapid  current  of  the  Missis- 
sippi has  changed  its  course  and  flows  through  the  old  fortifications. 
We  give  below  in  a  tabular  form  the  names  of  the  principal  cities  of  the 
West,  with  the  periods  of  their  being  founded  by  the  French,  who  laid 
claim  to  all  of  the  western  country,  and  commenced  the  early  settlements  : 

Detroit  was  founded  in  1700,  and  now  contains  65,000  inhabitants. 


Pittsburgh 
Louisville 

*  Cincinnati 

*  Milwaukee 

*  Chicago 


1784, 
1785, 
1789, 
1834, 
1830, 


150,000 
75,000 

220,000 
50,000 

160,000 


In  the  body  of  the  preceding  pages  a  reference  to  the  Mississippi  Val- 
ley has  been  made  on  several  occasions,  stating  at  the  time  that  it  was  a 
portion  of  this  history.  It  was  the  intention  of  the  author,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  book,  to  let  a  history  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  form  a 
portion  of  it,  and  it  was  written  with  that  intention.  It  has  since  been 
withdrawn,  owing  to  the  voluminous  nature  of  the  work,  but  will  in  a 
short  time  be  published  in  a  separate  volume. 


*  These  cities  were  not  founded  by  the  French. 


COLONEL     JOHN     O'FALLON. 

(p.  77.) 

ENORAVKD    KXPRF.88T.T   FOR   THIS   WORK   FROM    A    PHOTOGRAPH    BY    BROWN. 


BIOGRAPHIES. 


ST.  Louis  contains  a  population  of  one  hundred  and  ninety  thousand 
inhabitants,  and  is  gradually  advancing  to  a  most  superb  destiny.  Her 
magnificent  location — the  centre  of  the  great  Mississippi  Valley — and 
her  present  importance  have  beconle  apparent  to  the  world,  and  now, 
without  a  rival  to  dispute  her  pre-eminence,  she  is  the  acknowledged 
metropolis  of  the  great  western  country. 

Biographies  of  those  who  have  become  identified  with  the  progress  of 
the  great  city,  who  have  guided  and  directed  its  business  currents  year 
by  year,  swelling  with  the  elements  of  prosperity,  and  who  have  left  the 
impress  of  their  genius  and  judgment  upon  the  legislative  enactments  of 
the  state,  must  be  sought  after  with  avidity,  and  must  be  fraught  with 
useful  instruction.  It  will  be  a  source  of  satisfaction  to  the  reader  to 
know  that  the  engravings  of  individuals  who  adorn  this  work  are  not 
drawn  by  the  flighty  imagination  from  airy  nothingness ;  but  represent 
the  lineaments  of  men,  nearly  all  of  whom  are  living  and  breathing  at  this 
time,  who  have  achieved  lofty  positions,  are  still  active  in  the  busy, 
bustling  world,  and  afford  sterling  examples  of  business  excellence  and 
moral  and  social  virtues. 

In  writing  the  lives  of  these  men,  the  author  has  not  attempted  to  swell 
facts  beyond  their  proper  magnitude,  for  the  incidents  which  make  up  the 
biographies  are  of  sufficient  importance  in  themselves  to  vest  them  with 
interest,  without  the  adventitious  aid  of  the  imagination. 


COLONEL  JOHN  O'FALLON. 

The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born  on  the  23d  of  November,  1791, 
near  Louisville,  Jefferson  county,  Kentucky ;  and  is  consequently  sixty- 
eight  years  of  age.  His  father,  Dr.  James  O'Fallon,  was  an  Irish  gentle- 
man of  education,  and  lived  in  Roscomrnon  county,  Ireland,  and  immi- 
grated to  this  country  in  the  year  1774.  He  settled  in  Wilmington, 
North  Carolina,  and  when  his  young  adopted  country,  conscious  of  the 
justness  of  her  cause,  threw  down  the  gage  of  battle  to  the  most  powerful 
nation  on  the  globe,  Dr.  O'Fallon  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  contest, 
which,  after  seven  years'  struggle,  so  fortunately  accomplished  our  inde- 
pendence. He  raised  a  troop  of  a  hundred  Irishmen  in  the  state  of  Geor- 
gia, and,  being  appointed  the  captain,  served  in  that  capacity  from  1775 
to  the  Battle  of  Brandy  wine,  in  1777.  His  professional  services  after 
that  period  were  called  into  requisition,  and  so  accomplished  was  he  in 
the  art  of  surgery,  that  he  received  the  appointment  of  principal  surgeon 
of  the  General  Hospital  of  the  United  States,  which  important  position  he 
occupied  until  the  close  of  the  Revolution  in  1783. 

While  the  elements  which  brewed  the  tempest  of  the  Revolution  were 


80  COLONEL  JOHN  O  FALLON. 

actively  at  work,  Dr.  O'Fallon,  for  having  expressed  his  republican  prin- 
ciples rather  too  freely  in  a  little  Journal  called  the  Mosquito,  was  thrown 
into  prison  by  an  English  governor,  where  he  remained  until  rescued  by 
General  Ashe  with  eight  hundred  militia,  and  then  he  turned  the  tables 
upon  his  English  excellency,  forced  him  to  take  refuge  in  an  English 
vessel  in  Cape  Fear  River,  and  so  heartily  was  he  frightened,  that  he  never 
again  ventured  upon  American  soil. 

After  the  close  of  the  revolutionary  war,  Dr.  O'Fallon  married  the 
youngest  sister  of  General  George  Rogers  Clark,  and  from  that  union 
sprung  the  subject  of  this  biography.  From  his  youth,  the  young  O'Fal- 
lon was  remarkable  for  his  popularity  among  his  companions  for  his  judg- 
ment, generosity  and  a  predisposition  for  military  glory.  At  the  age  of 
nineteen,  in  the  summer  of  1811,  he  joined  General  Harrison's  army  at 
Vincennes,  Indiana,  and  in  the  autumn  of  that  year  took  a  prominent 
part  in  the  memorable  battle  of  Tippecanoe,  in  which  he  was  severely 
wounded. 

After  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe,  he  received  a  subaltern's  commission  in 
the  first  regiment  of  United  States  infantry,  and  arrived  in  St.  Louis  in 
January,  1812.  In  the  spring, he  received  from  Governor  Howard  a  captain's 
commission,  and  with  his  company  of  eighty  proceeded  with  an  expedi- 
tion, commanded  by  Colonel  Whiteside,  of  Illinois,  against  some'bands  of 
marauding  Indians,  who  were  invading  with  all  the  horrors  of  savage  war- 
fare the  defenceless  settlements  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state  of  Illinois. 

He  was  then  ordered  to  take  charge  of  some  government  boats  bound 
for  Pittsburgh,  which  arrived  at  their  place  of  destination  July,  1812,  and 
afterward  he  proceeded  to  Louisville  for  the  purpose  of  equipping  himself 
to  join  General  Harrison,  who  was  in  Ohio.  He  joined  General  Harrison 
in  October,  at  Franklinton,  opposite  Columbus,  and  was  at  once  appointed 
to  his  staff.  He  had  the  entire  confidence  of  his  distinguished  chief,  and 
was  with  him  at  the  siege  of  Fort  Meigs,  May,  1813,  and  afterward  at  the 
assault  and  capture  of  a  British  battery,  on  which  occasion  he  was  highly 
complimented  for  his  chivalrous  behavior  by  his  commanding  general. 
In  the  autumn  of  1813  he  w^as  at  the  memorable  battle  of  the  river 
Thames,  still  serving  as  aide-de-camp,  and  performing  the  duties  of  deputy- 
adjutant  general,  and  remained  with  General  Harrison  until  that  general's 
resignation  in  May,  1814.  At  the  close  of  the  war  in  1815,  Colonel  O'Fal- 
lon was  the  commandant  of  Fort  Maiden,  in  Canada,  opposite  the  mouth 
of  the  Detroit  River. 

In  August,  1818,  Colonel  John  O'Fallon  resigned  his  commission  in  the 
army,  there  being  no  field  to  invite  his  military  aspirations,  and  since  that 
time  has  turned  his  attention  to  the  more  solid  business  avocations  of  life, 
and  always  resided  either  in  St.  Louis  or  its  vicinity.  In  1821  he  was 
engaged  as  contractor  of  the  army,  and  traded  extensively  with  the  In- 
dians. He  was  elected  to  the  legislature  in  the  same  year,  and  served 
with  honor  and  usefulness  in  that  body  for  four  years,  the  last  two  years 
being  a  member  of  the  Senate.  Whilst  at  Jefferson  city,  he  took  an  active 
part  in  the  passage  of  the  celebrated  Loan  Bill. 

In  1821,  Colonel  O'Fallon  was  married  to  Miss  Stokes,  sister  of  William 
Stokes,  who  owned  nearly  a  million  dollars  of  landed  estate  in  St.  Louis. 
He  was  again  married  March  15, 1827,  to  Miss  Caroline  Sheetz,  who  came 
with  her  parents  from  the  state  of  Maryland  in  1824.  By  this  marriage 


COLONEL    JOHN    o'rALLON.  81 


there  arc  five  children,  at  present  living,  Caroline  (now  Mrs.  Dr.  Pope)- 
James  J.  O'Fallon,  married  to  Miss  Nannie  Harris,  of  Kentucky,  grand- 
daughter of  the  late  General  Taylor,  Benjamin  O'Fallon,  married  to 
Miss  Sallie  Carter,  daughter  of  Walker  11.  Carter,  Esq.,  of  St.  Louis, 
Henry  A.  O'Fallon.  and" John  J.  O'Fallon. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  man  living  as  much  identified  with  St.  Louis  as  is 
Colonel  O'Fallon — not  on  account  of  his  immense  wealth,  but  for  the  useful 
purposes  which  he  has  made  it  to  subserve  the  city  and  adorn  it.  With 
a  charity  unparalleled  in  its  munificence,  he  has  already  bestowed  more 
than  a  million  of  dollars  to  advance  the  cause  of  education  and  science, 
and  to  relieve  the  wants  of  suffering  humanity.  He  gave  the  ground 
where  St.  Louis  University  now  stands,  and  also  the  site  where  the  first 
Methodist  church  stood  on  Fourth  Street,  now  occupied  by  Clarke's 
buildings.  He  gave  the  five  acres  of  land  on  which  the  water-works 
of  the  city  are  erected,  and  endowed  the  O'Fallon  Polytechnic  Institute 
with  property  valued  at  $100,000.  He  gave  most  liberally  to  Wash- 
ington University,  and  built  the  Dispensary  and  Medical  College  over 
which  Dr.  Pope  so  efficiently  presides.  He  gave  fifteen  acres  of  land  to 
the  "  Home  of  the  Friendless,"  and  his  private  charities  are  "  legion." 

Liberality,  so  rarely  found  in  the  possession  of  wealth,  forms  one  of 
the  dominant  traits  of  Col.  O'Fallon's  character;  and  he  once  offered  to 
make  the  city  of  St.  Louis  a  present  of  a  hundred  acres  of  land,  if  Peter 
Lindell,  Esq.,  would  do  the  same ;  each  one  of  the  gifts  to  be  laid  out 
into  two  magnificent  parks ;  but  the  condition  of  the  offer  was  not  ac- 
ceded to. 

Colonel  O'Fallon  was  president  of  the  Branch  Bank  of  the  United  States 
Bank  during  its  existence  in  St.  Louis,  and  under  his  superior  and  honor- 
able management  it  was  wound  up  with  the  loss  only  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  dollars,  while  tens  of  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands 
dollars  were  lost  in  the  various  places  the  branches  were  located,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  frauds  committed  by  the  unprincipled  officers  connected 
with  them;  and  he  was  also  agent  for  the  United  States  Bank  of  Penn- 
sylvania from  1836  to  1841. 

The  possession  of  unbounded  wealth,  the  high  and  responsible  posi- 
tions which  he  has  filled  in  the  military,  civic  and  business  relations  of 
life,  have  never  generated  pride  and  arrogance  in  his  character,  and  made 
him  forgetful  of  his  duties  to  his  Creator  and  his  fellow  beings.  He  was 
the  first  man  who  organized  a  Sabbath-school  west  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  and  is  a  regular  attendant  of  the  Episcopal  church.  Unostenta- 
tious in  his  bearing  he  can  be  approached  by  all,  and  his  manner  pos- 
sesses much  of  that  freedom  and  frankness  which  lend  a  charm  to  conver- 
sation, and  is  characteristic  of  the  early  settlement  of  the  West. 

When  Colonel  O'Fallon  first  saw  St.  Louis,  it  was  but  little  more  than 
village  of  log-houses,  containing  but  a  few  thousand  inhabitants.  Its 
commerce  consisted  only  of  the  furs  and  peltries  which  were  brought  by 
the  hunter  and  trader  from  the  Missouri,  the  Mississippi  and  the  Illinois ; 
and  on  their  waters  a  few  canoes  and  flatboats  w;ere  sufficient  to  carry  all 
of  the  required  trade.  Colonel  O'Fallon  has  seen  the  Mound  City  through 
all  of  its  progressive  stages  of  advancement,  from  his  first  advent  in  1812, 
to  the  present  time,  and  has  contributed  more  liberally  to  all  public  and 
private  enterprise  than  any  other  man  now  living.  He  has  won  tho 


82  COLONEL   JOHN   o'FALLON. 

respect  and  love  of  every  class  of  society,  and  in  1849,  when  the  great 
fire  threatened  to  reduce  the  whole  city  to  ashes,  such  was  his  popularity 
and  such  his  claim  on  public  gratitude,  that  the  firemen,  knowing  that 
some  property  must  be  destroyed,  encircled  his,  and  saved  it  on  many 
occasions  from  the  devouring  element. 

Colonel  O'Fallon  has  been  identified  with  the  great  railroad  enterprises 
of  Missouri,  which  like  a  network  will  soon  thread  every  portion  of  the 
state,  and  develop  its  vast  resources.  At  the  first  meeting  of  some  of  the 
prominent  citizens  to  create  a  company  to  form  the  plan  of  the  Pacific 
Railroad,  Colonel  O'Fallon  was  chosen  president,  and  after  a  charter  was 
obtained  from  the  assembly  of  Missouri,  he  was  nominated  as  a  candidate 
for  the  presidency,  but  declined,  and  at  the  same  time  nominated  Mr. 
Thomas  Allen,  who  was  duly  elected. 

Colonel  O'Fallon  was  the  first  president  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rail- 
road, and  also  of  the  North  Missouri.  He  was  a  director  of  the  State 
Bank  of  Missouri,  and  subscribed  liberally  to  the  building  of  the  Planters' 
House,  and  more  recently  to  the  building  of  the  Lindell  Hotel,  now  in 
the  course  of  erection.  He  is  now  in  the  autumn  of  his  life,  and  the 
golden  fruits  of  a  clear  head  and  good  heart  are  around  him.  He  has 
abundance  beyond  his  most  sanguine  wish,  the  love  and  respect  of 
zealous  and  admiring  friends ;  and  thousands  of  young  hearts  who  are 
educated  by  his  bounty  breathe  his  name  with  gratitude. 

Colonel  O'Fallon  has  liberally  dispensed  his  charities,  and  seen  and  en- 
joyed the  fruits  of  them  while  living.  His  good  works  live  around  him, 
and  he  can  enjoy  them ;  and  when  the  sands  of  his  life  are  all  spent  and 
he  will  be  gathered  to  his  "  narrow  house,"  he  will  be  mourned  as  a  public 
benefactor,  and  his  name  will  not  be  forgotten. 


JOHN    SAPPINGTON,    ESQ. 

(p.  88.) 

ENGRAVED   EXPRESSLY   FOR  THIS   WORK    FROM    A   PHOTOGRAPH   BY   TROXEL. 


JOHN  SAPPIKGTOH, 

JOHN  SAPPINGTON  was  born  May  28, 1790,  in  Madison  county,  Ky.  His 
parents  were  of  a  respectable  family  in  the  state  of  Maryland,  and  his 
father,  after  whom  he  was  named,  when  he  became  a  resident  of  Kentucky, 
served  in  its  legislative  halls  as  senator,  at  the  same  period  that  Henry 
Clay  was  serving  as  a  member.  Mr.  Sappington  had  a  large  family  of 
eighteen  children,  and  moved  to  Missouri  in  1806. 

Young  John  Sappington  was  early  put  to  work  on  the  farm  of  his  father, 
and  was  regularly  brought  up  to  the  business  of  a  farmer.  When  he  came  to 
St.  Louis  with  his  father,  the  now  great  city  contained  but  a  few  hundred 
inhabitants,  and  were  made  up  of  such  a  low  mixture  of  French,  Indians, 
and  negroes ;  of  ruffians,  robbers,  swearers,  and  swindlers ;  that  the  forty 
families  which  had  come  together  from  Kentucky  determined  to  pur- 
chase land  some  distance  from  the  town,  rather  than  mingle  in  such 
rascally  society,  although  they  could  have  purchased  most  of  the  land  on 
which  St.  Louis  now  stands  for  one  gallon  of  lohiskey  per  acre* 

The  place  on  which  Mr.  Sappington  now  resides,  consisting  of  six  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres,  was  purchased  at  that  time  for  the  usual  current 
price,  one  gallon  of  whiskey  per  acre.  This  was  the  golden  epoch  in  the 
history  of  whiskey.  It  represented  the  currency  of  the  time,  and  was 
known  and  esteemed  in  every  domicile. 

Young  John  Sappington  was  delighted  with  his  new  abode.  The  rich 
soil  had  lain  fallow  probably  for  hundreds  of  centuries,  and'the  yield  in  all 
kinds  of  grain  was  almost  fabulous.  In  1812  when  the  military  enthu- 
siasm spread  abroad  in  the  land,  on  account  of  the  rupture  between  this 
country  and  Great  Britain,  he  volunteered  under  Colonel  Nathan  Boone, 
son  of  Daniel  Boone,  the  Kentucky  pioneer,  and  served  under  Governor 
Howard  ;  and  was  the  first  one  of  the  fifteen  hundred  horsemen,  to  plunge 
into  the  Mississippi  and  lead  the  way  across  to  Illinois,  where  they  were 
going  to  join  Governor  Edwards.  John  Sappington  was  held  in  high 
estimation  by  Governor  Howard,  and  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  trusty 
scouts,  who  were  sent  in  advance  of  the  army  to  detect  ambush,  and 
apprise  of  danger. 

Mr.  Sappington  was  married  January  8,  1815,  to  Miss  Sarah  Wells, 
daughter  of  John  Wells,  and  has  had  eleven  children.  He  has  lived  upon 
the  farm  where  he  now  resides  since  1806,  to  which  he  has  added  six 
hundred  and  forty  acres,  and  so  perfected  is  its  condition,  and  so  high  its 
state  of  cultivation,  that  he  was  awarded  a  diploma,  which  was  given  as 
the  premium  at  the  last  fair  in  St.  Louis  for  "  The  Model  Farm."  He 
takes  a  great  interest  in  all  things  pertaining  to  agriculture,  and  joined 
with  the  Hon.  J.  R.  Barrett  and  others,  in  organizing  the  Agricultural  and 
Mechanical  Association,  which  is  now  so  well-known  throughout  the 
Union.  He  has  also  served  in  the  legislative  council  of  Missouri  for 
three  periods,  and  was  always  popular  with  his  constituents.  He  is  still 
hale  and  vigorous,  and  early  hardships  appear  not  to  have  affected  his  iron 
constitution. 

*  These  were  some,  of  the  French  families,  for  whom  Mr.  Sappington  had  a  high 
respect. 

3 


HON.  EDWARD  BATES. 

TFIIS  distinguished  Jurist  was  born,  September  4th,  1793,  in  Goochland 
county,  Virginia.  His  ancestors  were  of  English  origin,  and  can  be 
traced  back  even  previously  to  their  arrival  in  this  country,  in  1625,  at 
the  colony  of  Jamestown.  They  were  of  the  denomination  called  the 
Quakers,  and  strictly  lived  up  to  the  tenets  of  their  church.  In  common 
with  the  early  settlers  of  that  day,  they  doubtless  had  to  endure  the 
hardships  incident  to  that  early  period,  when  the  ambition  of  the  pioneer 
extended  no  farther  than  to  rear  a  little  log  cabin,  to  feed  his  family  on 
the  products  of  the  chase,  raise  the  maize  of  the  country,  and  protect 
them  from  the  scalp-knife  of  the  Indian.  It  belongs  not  to  the  province 
of  this  work  to  follow  the  ancestors  of  Edward  Bates  through  the  trying 
and  romantic  variety  of  their  chequered  existence,  when  the  state  of 
Virginia  was  a  wild,  and  the  white  men  were  so  inferior  in  number  to 
the  sons  of  the  forest. 

T.  F.  Bates,  the  father  of  Edward  Bates,  though  reared  in  the  strict 
creed  of  the  society  of  Friends,  when  the  war-cry  of  the  Revolution 
rung  through  the  infant  colonies,  joined  in  the  cry  of  resistance,  and  with 
all  the  ardor  of  the  patriot  seized  his  gun  to  defend  his  country's  rights.  It 
was  then  that  ke  was  excommunicated  by  the  society  of  Friends,  whose 
peace  doctrines  he  had  violated,  and  from  that  day  he  was  no  more  a 
Quaker,  and  his  family  was  reared  out  of  the  pale  of  that  church. 

Edward  Bates,  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  was  the  seventh  son  of  his 
parents,  who  had  a  large  family  of  twelve  children.  He  was  sent  early 
to  school,  but  was  often  suffered  to  leave  at  interims,  and  from  this  irreg- 
ularity, his  attendance  was  almost  wholly  profitless.  Fortunately  for 
him,  his  father  possessed  a  considerable  amount  of  useful  knowledge  ;  and 
Edward  Bates  garnered  much  from  the  frequent  conversations  he  had 
with  his  father,  who  always  directed  hfs  mind  to  useful  subjects.  He 
had  also  the  advantage  of  instruction  for  two  years,  from  his  kinsman* 
Benjamin  Bates,  of  Hanover,  Va.,  who  was  an  able  instructor,  an  accom- 
plished scholar,  and  a  pure  and  exemplary  Christian.  After  leaving  the 
instruction  of  his  relation  he  was  sent  to  the  Charlotte  Hall  Academy, 
where  he  went  through  a  regular  academic  course,  and  then  his  education 
was  completed. 

On  leaving  school  Edward  Bates,  in  selecting  a  pursuit  to  follow  for  a 
livelihood,  was  strongly  predisposed  to  join  the  navy,  but  yielding  to  the 
entreaties  of  his  mother,  declined  a  midshipman's  warrant,  which  had 
been  procured  in  accordance  with  his  wishes.  However,  to  gratify  a 
spirit  for  military  glory,  during  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain,  he 
served  six  months  in  the  army,  at  Norfolk,  Va.,  as  a  volunteer  in  a  militia 
regiment. 

On  reaching  the  age  of  twenty,  Edward  Bates  removed  to  St. 
Louis  under  the  auspices  of  his  elder  brother,  who  was  then  secretary  of 
the  territory,  and  who  afterward  became  Governor  of  Missouri.  He 
studied  law  under  Ilufus  Easton,  then  eminent  at  the  bar,  and  who  after- 


^'ilsfejfl^r,^ 

x'«i^ 


HON.    EDWARD    BATES. 

(p.  ST.) 

r.NUKAVKD   FROM    A    ]>H<lTOU  IIAI'II    |:XI>KKSSLY    K(IR   THIS    WOKK. 


HON.   EDWARD  BATES.  89 


ward  represented  a  portion  of  the  state  in  the  national  Congress.  After 
being  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1816,  he  used  all  his  industry,  for  which 
he  is  now  remarkable,  to  qualify  himself  thoroughly  in  his  profession. 
In  1819  he  was  appointed  Circuit  Attorney,  which  he  held  until  1820, 
when  the  state  of  Missouri  was  formed. 

Edward  Bates,  by  his  talents,  business  abilities,  and  integrity  of  char- 
acter, early  won  the  confidence  of  the  people  of  Missouri,  and  was  elected 
a  representative  to  the  State  Convention,  which  formed  the  Constitution 
in  1820,  and  the  same  year  was  appointed  Attorney-General  of  the  state. 

From  the  popularity  of  Edward  Bates  he  was,  contrary  to  his  wishes, 
nominated  as  a  candidate  for  the  legislature,  and  was  elected  several 
times  as  member  to  that  honorable  body,  serving  in  both  houses  as  a 
leader  of  the  old  whig  party,  to  which  he  belonged.  He  was  never  a 
virulent  factionist,  and  was  popular  even  in  the  opposite  faction,  whose 
opinions  he  respected ;  and  if  he  could  not  win  them  as  proselytes,  he 
conciliated  their  regard  by  his  gentleness  and  respectful  conduct. 

In  1823  he  was  joined  in  wedlock  to  Miss  Julia  D.  Carlton,  and  has 
had  a  large  family  of  seventeen  children,  eight  of  whom  still  survive. 

In  1824  he  was  appointed  by  President  Monroe  as  United  States 
Attorney  for  the  Missouri  district,  which  office  he  held  until  he  was 
elected  member  of  the  Twentieth  Congress  in  1826. 

In  1828  he  was  again  a  candidate  for  Congress,  but  the  auspicious 
star  of  General  Jackson  had  risen  upon  the  political  horizon,  and  all  the 
great  lights  of  the  whig  party  grew  "  beautifully  less."  Edward  Bates 
was  defeated,  and  from  that  day  to  the  present  has  never  meddled  in  the 
turbulent  current  of  politics ;  since  that  time  he  has  earnestly  been 
engaged  in  the  arduous  duties  of  his  profession,  excepting  the  three 
years  he  served  as  Judge  in  the  St.  Louis  Land  Court.  As  a  member  of 
the  St.  Louis  bar,  by  the  consent  even  of  his  professional  brethren,  he 
"  stands  proudly  eminent,"  and  the  emolument  arising  from  his  practice 
is  most  considerable.  He  is  profound  as  a  lawyer,  and  as  a  speaker 
before  court  and  jury,  tries  to  convince  the  judgment,  and  never  attempts 
sophistry  to  delude,  nor  adorns  his  argument  with  the  weak  and  transient 
beauties  of  a  prolific  imagination. 

At  the  time  that  the  convention  for  internal  improvement  was  held  at 
Chicago,  Judge  Bates  was  called  to  the  chair.  In  1850  he  was  solicited 
by  President  Fillmore,  to  become  a  member  of  his  cabinet,  and  was 
offered  the  honorable  appointment  of  Secretary  of  War,  but  he  declined 
acceptance. 

Judge  Bates  is  sixty-five  years  of  age,  and  now  with  his  mind  matured 
by  experience,  with  an  influence  second  to  no  one  in  the  Union,  and  with  a 
character  that  is  spotless,  he  is  looked  upon  as  a  fitting  candidate  of  the 
American  people  for  the  next  presidency.  We  have  only  to  say,  that  his 
name  would  add  lustre  to  any  party,  and  the  highest  gift  in  the  power 
of  the  people  in  this  great  republic,  would  be  nothing  more  than  a  fitting 
tribute  to  his  excellence 


HENRY  VON  PHUL. 

HENRY  VON  PHUL,  the  senior  partner  of  the  well-known  firm  Von 
Phul,  Waters  and  Co.,  is  the  oldest  merchant  now  living  in  the  city  of 
St.  Louis.  He  is  a  native  of  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  born 
in  that  city  August  14th,  1784.  His  father  was  a  plain  and  respectable 
man,  and  his  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Graff,  was  the  daughter  of 
a  well  known  merchant  in  the  city  of  Lancaster,  a  town  in  Pennsylvania, 
composed  at  that  time  almost  entirely  of  a  German  population. 

All  the  advantages  of  education  which  Henry  Von  Phul  enjoyed,  he 
received  from  the  common  schools  in  the  city  of  his  nativity.  At  the 
early  age  of  seventeen,  he  emigrated  to  Lexington,  Kentucky,  at  that  time 
a  small  village,  and  engaged  as  a  clerk  in  a  store  ( J.  Jordon's),  which  in  a 
country  place  always  embraces  in  itself  the  different  branches  of  grocery, 
drug  shop,  and  dry  goods  business,  and  is  not  devoted  to  any  particular 
subdivision. 

During  his  residence  in  Lexington,  Mr.  Von  Phul,  by  his  business 
habits  and  integrity,  won  completely  the  confidence  of  his  employer 
(Mr.  Thomas  Hart,  jr.,  who  was  brother-in-law  to  Henry  Clay,  and  after 
whose  father  the  late  Thomas  H.  Benton  was  named),  and  was  sent 
South  on  a  general  trading  tour.  He  visited  the  city  of  Natchez,  and 
went  a  considerable  distance  up  the  Red  River,  bartering  with  the  planters 
and  Indians  who  dwelt  upon  its  margin.  There  was  no  steam  at  this 
time,  and  Mr.  Von  Phul  navigated  the  rivers  in  a  keelboat,  pushing  it 
up  the  swift  current  with  a  long  pole. 

In  this  place  he  remained  for  ten  years,  and  finding  that  Lexington 
was  not  advancing  in  population  and  business  as  rapidly  as  he  wished,  he 
started  for  St.  Louis  in  1811,  having  heard  it  favorably  spoken  of  as  a 
place  of  trade,  and  feeling  confident,  from  the  natural  position  which  it 
occupied,  that  it  must  in  time  become  a  place  of  importance. 

On  the  advent  of  Henry  Von  Phul  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  it  was  a 
small  town  made  up  of  log-houses  and  other  inferior  buildings,  and  con- 
taining some  fifteen  hundred  inhabitants;  almost  all  of  whom  were  French, 
and  principally  devoted  themselves  to  the  trade  of  lead  and  peltries.  All; 
of  the  country  west  of  St.  Louis,  and  over  the  Illinois  side  of  the  Missis- 
sippi was  in  its  primitive  wild  state  and  unreclaimed  by  the  settler. 
Marauding  Indians  roamed  over  every  part  of  the  country,  and  murdered 
and  mangled  many  a  bold  pioneer  who  had  rashly  advanced  too  far  into 
the  wilds  from  the  assistance  of  his  countrymen. 

Less  than  a  year  after  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Von  Phul  in  St.  Louis,  there 
was  a  rumor  that  the  settlers  .on  the  Missouri  were  attacked  by  the 
Indians,1  and  immediately  a  large  body  of  volunteers,  commanded  by  Nat. 
Boone,  son  of  the  Kentucky  pioneer  Daniel  Boone,  hastened  to  their 
relief;  among  the  number  who  enlisted  was  Henry  Von  Phul,  then  in  the 
prime  of  his  life,  being  twenty-eight  years  of  age.  He  was  always  of  a 
fearless  disposition,  and  during  the  war  of  1812,  he  made  several  trips  on 
horseback  between  St.  Louis  and  Louisville,  and  what  was  most  remark- 
able, though  the  Indians  were  very  troublesome  at  that  time,  and  shud- 


HENRY    VON     P  H  U  L  .    ESQ. 

(p.  91.) 

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HENRY    VON   PHUL.  93 


dering  details  of  tragical  scenes  in  which  they  were  actors,  were  daily 
bruited  through  the  country,  he  never  saw  a  single  Indian  in  his  solitary 
pilgrimage. 

In  1816,  Henry  Von  Phul  married  Miss  Saugrain,  the  daughter  of  Dr. 
Antoine  F.  Saugrain,  and  of  this  marriage  have  been  born  fifteen  children; 
of  which  ten  still  survive,  six  sons  and  four  daughters.  He  commenced 
his  business  career  in  a  little  store  situated  in  Main-street,  north  block 
No.  8,  and  kept  for  sale  dry  goods  in  all  their  varieties,  and  also  all  the 
numerous  other  articles  required  in  domestic  life,  and  which  country  stores 
usually  supply. 

In  1831,  Mr.  Von  Phul  removed  to  the  corner  of  Olive  and  Front 
streets,  where  he  was  largely  engaged  in  the  general  commission  business 
and  steamboat  agency.  In  some  of  the  fine  steamboats  which  float  upon 
the  Mississippi  he  has  owned  a  large  portion,  and  was  one  of  the  few  now 
living  who  saw  the  arrival  of  the  General  Pike,  the  first  steamboat  that 
landed  in  St.  Louis;  this  was  in  1817.  Steamboats  at  an  early  day  were 
the  speediest  channels  of  communication,  and  were  the  making  of  the 
Western  country  and  Western  commerce;  and  soon  Mr.  Von  Phul  in- 
vested largely  in  those  natural  vehicles  of  commerce  on  the  Western 
waters. 

Always  directing  his  conduct  by  principles  based  upon  the  soundest 
morality,  Mr.  Von  Phul  has  deserved  and  gained  the  confidence  of  all 
classes  of  citizens,  and  has  filled  several  important  positions  connected 
with  the  municipal  government  and  welfare  of  St.  Louis.  He  acted  as  one 
of  the  Board  of  City  Commissioners  for  several  years;  he  was  an  efficient 
officer  of  the  School  Board ;  he  was  connected  with  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce ;  was  president  of  the  Union  Insurance  Company  ;  is  a  director 
in  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad,  and  has  in  some  manner  been  connected 
with  most  of  our  public  and  private  institutions,  both  civil  and  charitable. 
He  has  already  passed  the  age  usually  allotted  to  man,  and  in  the  course 
of  an  active  life  has  been  brought  in  connection  with  many  men  and  many 
transactions.  There  is  not  a  word  of  reproach  against  his  character,  nothing 
to  sully  his  fair  fame — nothing  to  dim  the  lustre  of  his  life,  now  so  near 
its  setting.  Among  the  merchants  he  is  looked  upon  as  a  patriarch,  being 
the  oldest  one  now  living  in  St.  Louis,  and  his  name  has  become  a  house- 
hold word  in  the  Great  Metropolis,  and  invested  with  the  attraction  of  all 
the  moral  attributes.  In  his  sear  of  life  hoists  of  friends  are  around  him, 
and  when  his  spirit  will  calmly  and  hopefully  glide  from  earth,  his  honored 
name  will  not  be  forgotten. 


HON.    JOHN    FLETCHER   DARBY. 

JOHN  FLETCHER  DARBY  was  born  December  10th,  1803,  in  Person 
county,  North  Carolina.  His  father,  John  Darby,  was  a  respectable  plant- 
er, who  removed  to  Missouri  in  1818,  and  settled  in  the  western  part 
of  St.  Louis  county,  then  inhabited  only  by  the  pioneers  of  the  country, 
and  requiring  much  labor  to  bring  the  land  into  a  proper  state  of  culti- 
vation. 

Young  John  F.  Darby  was  early  sent  to  school  by  his  father,  and  had 
at  first  all  the  advantages  that  the  log  school-house  could  give  him,  and 
being  ambitious  of  mental  culture,  he  devoted  all  of  his  leisure  moments 
to  the  improvement  of  his  mind.  His  father  reared  him  in  the  habits  of 
industry,  and  he  was  accustomed,  in  busy  seasons,  to  assist  in  the  farm- 
ing operations,  but  so  anxious  was  he  to  store  his  mind  with  knowledge, 
that  he  first  commenced  to  'study  the  Latin  grammar  while  he  was 
engaged  in  ploughing;  using  the  time  in  turning  his  horse  to  catch  a 
hasty  glance  at  his  book.  At  Colonel  Post's  there  was  a  young  tutor, 
who,  seeing  the  untiring  devotion  of  the  young  man  to  the  improvement 
of  his  mind,  though  surrounded  with  difficulties,  took  much  pleasure  in 
assisting  him  to  master  the  Latin  language,  and  in  a  little  time  young 
Darby  was  conversant  with  many  of  the  Latin  authors,  and  highly  relished 
the  beauties  of  Horace,  Virgil,  and  other  Latin  poets. 

In  1823,  when  young  Darby  had  attained  the  age  of  twenty,  he  lost 
both  of  his  parents ;  but  he  did  not  relax  his  efforts,  and  continued  his 
habits  of  industry.  He  then  paid  a  visit  to  his  grand-parents  in  North 
Carolina,  and  receiving  some  pecuniary  assistance,  he  determined  to  com- 
plete his  education,  and  placed  himself  under  William  Bingham,  of  Orange 
county,  one  of  the  most  accomplished  scholars  in  the  South.  He  then, 
in  1 825,  applied  for  an  appointment  in  the  military  academy  at  West 
Point,  but  for  the  want  of  influential  friends,  he  was  not  successful. 
This  disappointment  served  to  incline  his  mind  toward  the  law,  and  dis- 
posing of  his  small  patrimony,  he  commenced  the  study  of  the  legal  pro- 
fession at  Frankfort,  Kentucky.  His  money,  however,  becoming  ex- 
hausted before  his  profession  was  mastered,  he  applied  to  Mr.  Swigert, 
clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Kentucky,  who,  taking  an  interest  in  his 
welfare,  gave  him  some  copying  to  do,  from  the  proceeds  of  which  he 
could  live,  and  also  prosecute  his  studies.  He,  in  a  short  time,  received 
license  to  practise  from  the  Supreme  Court  of  Kentucky. 

Mr.  Darby  then  returned  to  Missouri,  and  to  familiarize  himself  with 
the  office  routine  of  his  profession,  remained  for  some  months  as  a  student 
under  Judge  Gamble,  until  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  St.  Louis,  in 
1827.  Filled  with  an  honorable  emulation,  with  a  fair  field  before  him, 
it  was  not  long  before  he  became  known  as  a  rising  man  in  his  profession, 
and  crowds  of  clients  soon  began  to  throng  his  office..  He  became  a  favor- 
ite with  the  people,  was  a  popular  stump  orator,  and  in  1835,  a  year  re- 
plete for  him  with  honor  and  happiness,  he  was  elected  mayor  of  the 
city,  and  was  married  to  a  daughter  of  Captain  Wilkinson. 


HON.    JOHN    F.     DARBY. 

(p.  95.) 

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HON.  JOHN   FLETCHER   DARBY*.  97 

Mr.  Darby,  when  he  became  mayor,  took  no  sinecure.  It  was  almost 
equal  to  clearing  out  the  Augean  stables,  to  get  the  city  under  a  proper 
police  system,  and  under  the  healthful  jurisdiction  of  municipal  authority. 
He  established  the  Mayor's  Court,  where  his  summary  manner  of  dealing 
out  justice  soon  cleared  the  city  of  the  gamblers,  vagabonds,  and  other 
worthless  characters  which  infested  it,  and  in  a  few  months  after  he  com- 
menced his  official  duties,  an  efficient  police  was  established,  salutary 
laws  were  enforced,  and  every  thing  bore  the  aspect  which  indicated  that 
an  efficient  officer  was  at  the  head  of  the  municipal  government. 

Whilst  mayor,  Mr.  Darby  got  an  act  passed  for  the  sale  of  the  Commons, 
with  the  consent  of  the  inhabitants  who  had  a  right  to  vote  on  that  occa- 
sion ;  and  finding  that  the  city  was  paying  ten  per  cent,  interest  on  its  liabil- 
ities, he  borrowed  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  at  six  per  cent., 
which  much  relieved  its  financial  embarrassments.  He  was  untiring  during 
his  administration,  in  advocating  all  measures  that  would  redound  to  the  ad- 
vantage and  beauty  of  the  city.  In  his  message  he  advocated  the  purchase 
of  public  squares,  as  parks  and  parade-grounds ;  and  through  his  influence 
Washington  Square  was  purchased  from  Mr.  T.  H.  Smith  for  thirty-five 
thousand  dollars.  This  beautiful  square  was  for  a  long  time  called  Darby's 
Big  Gulley,  because  the  short-sighted  could  not  see  how  a  piece  of  land 
consisting  of  a  multitude  of  gutters  could  be  converted  into  a  handsome 
park.  He  also  in  his  proclamation,  in  1836,  urged  the  necessity  of  send- 
ing memorials  to  Congress,  to  induce  that  body  to  authorize,  as  quickly 
as  possible,  the  completion  of  the  great  national  road,  and  that  its  route 
should  be  through  St.  Louis.  This  was  the  time  when  a  national  road 
was  the  hobby  of  Congress. 

In  1838  and  '39,  Mr.  Darby,  whilst  a  member  of  the  Senate  of  Mis- 
souri, introduced  a  bill  for  the  charter  of  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad. 
This  failed,  in  despite  of  all  his  efforts  to  the  contrary,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  the  state  of  Illinois,  at  that  time,  stood  on  the  verge  of  bankruptcy, 
owing  to  her  railroad  mania.  In  1850,  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  and 
whilst  there  had  many  measures  carried,  of  great  importance  to  the  city. 
By  diplomatic  tactics  he  secured  for  the  custom-house  and  post-office  an 
appropriation  of  $115,000;  was  mainly  instrumental  in  getting  the  grant 
of  land  to  the  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  and  the  Hannibal  and  St. 
Joseph's  Railroad ;  and  also  the  consent  of  the  general  government  to  the 
right  of  way  for  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad  through  the  grounds  of  the 
Marine  Hospital,  the  arsenal,  etc.  Unfortunately,  while  he  was  serving 
so  well  his  constituents,  he  received  an  injury  on  a  boat,  from  the  effects 
of  which  he  will  never  wholly  recover. 

The  incidents  of  Mr.  Darby's  life  would  be  sufficient  to  fill  a  volume, 
but  the  limits  of  this  work  forbid  us  dwelling  any  longer  upon  them. 

Mr.  Darby  is  now  in  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  senior  part- 
ner of  the  well-known  banking-house  of  Darby  &  Poulterer.  He  has  been 
a  stirring,  practical  man,  both  in  his  public  and  private  life,  and  his  good 
constitution  being  still  vigorous  and  unenfeebled,  and  his  fine  intellect 
ripened  by  experience,  he  would  do  honor  to  any  official  function  in  the 
gift  of  his  country.  He  has  done  much,  and  all  honorably  ;  and  now, 
dwelling  in  the  affluence  and  honor  gained  by  his  industry  and  talents,  he 
can  look  upon  the  past  unsullied  career  of  his  chequered  life  with  con- 
scious pride  and  satisfaction. 


KENNETH  MACKENZIE. 

ALEXANDER  and  ISABELLA  MACKENZIE,  the  parents  of  Kenneth  Mac- 
Kenzie,  resided  in  Rossshire,  Scotland,  where  their  son,  the  subject  of 
this  memoir,  was  born,  April  15,  1797.  He  enjoyed  good  educational 
advantages  in  his  early  youth,  being  for  some  time  under  the  instruction 
of  a  parson  who  was  a  friend  of  the  family,  an  exemplary  Christian,  and 
a  profound  scholar. 

Being  desirous  of  seeing  the  world  beyond  the  sea-girt  isle  of  Britain, 
in  1818  Kenneth  MacKenzie  was  about  to  start  for  the  West  Indies,  but 
being  opposed  by  the  counsel  of  his  friends,  abandoned  the  project.  He 
then  received  a  cordial  invitation  from  a  wealthy  uncle,  Sir  Alexander 
MacKenzie,  who  owned  immense  tracts  of  land  in  Canada,  to  emigrate  to 
North  America,  and  there  to  commence  business,  as  the  field  to  wealth  and 
position  was  less  occupied  than  in  the  country  of  his  nativity. 

This  invitation  of  his  uncle  was  hailed  with  rapture  by  Kenneth  MacKen- 
zie, and  operated  like  electricity  upon  his  sanguine  temperament.  America 
was  the  subject  of  his  day  thoughts,  and  he  dreamed  at  night  of  the 
distant  regions.  He  determined  upon  visiting  the  land  which  a  prophetic 
feeling  told  him  was  to  be  his  future  home;  and  determined  to  gain  the 
consent  of  his  parents,  whom  he  tenderly  loved.  He  was  then  placed  in 
one  of  those  dilemmas  so  frequently  experienced  by  youth,  a  sense  of  duty 
or  a  gratification  of  a  controlling  desire.  Affection,  duty,  instinct,  all 
prompted  him  to  gain  the  consent  of  his  parents  and  ask  their  parting 
blessing ;  but  he  dreaded  their  refusal,  and  the  hopes  of  the  future  had 
been  so  long  connected  with  the  transatlantic  country,  that  he  clandes- 
tinely started  from  home,  with  a  heart  almost  bursting  for  his  filial  dis- 
obedience, and  took  shipping  from  Glasgow  to  Quebec. 

A  little  while  after  his  arrival  in  Canada,Mr.MacKenzieconnected  him- 
self with  the  British  North- West  Company,  and  in  their  service  gained 
the  first  lessons  in  the  fur  trade,  which  he  carried  on  so  extensively  a  few 
years  afterward.  He  remained  in  the  employment  of  the  company  for 
four  years,  and  after  well  becoming  initiated  in  all  the  mysteries  of  that 
lucrative  business,  he  determined  on  removing  to  St.  Louis,  and  engaging 
in  the  same  pursuit,  where  he  could  extend  his  trading  operations  with 
the  Indians  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific. 

In  1822,  Mr.Mackenzie  having  wound  up  his  business  in  Canada,  started 
for  St.  Louis,  where  he  established  a  company,  known  as  the  Columbia 
Fur  Company.  This  company  did  a  very  lucrative  trade,  and  Mr.  MacKenzie 
became  known  to  all  the  different  tribes  of  Indians  who  inhabited  the 
banks  of  the  Missouri,  from  its  mouth  to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  He  pos- 
sessed singular  control  over  those  savage  tribes,  and  often  soothed  their 
discontent,  a*nd  prevented  them  from  assailing  government  agents  for  the 
wrongs  and  the  frauds  they  often  committed.  They  looked  upon  him  as 
their  friend  and  readily  submitted  to  his  counsel. 

In  1827,  the  Columbia  Fur  Company  was  merged  into  the  American 
Fur  Company,  of  which  the  late  well  known  John  Jacob  Astor  was  at  the 
head,  and  much  of  that  princely  wealth,  which  has  made  his  name  famous 


KENNETH    MACKENZIE,    ESQ. 

(p.  B9.) 

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KENNETH    MACKENZIE.  101 


over  the  globe,  was  garnered  at  that  time  in  the  trade  with  the  Indians. 
Pierre  Chouteau,  whose  name  is  so  intimately  blended  with  St.  Louis,  was 
also  connected  with  the  company. 

At  this  period  the  labors  of  Mr.MacKenzie  were  Herculean.  He  trav- 
elled more  than  twenty-five  times  across  the  plains,  and  one  summer  alone 
performed  the  distance  of  more  than  three  thousand  miles  on  horseback, 
through  a  country  where  the  Indian  roamed,  and  where  the  axe  of  the 
pioneer  had  not  then  been  heard.  The  open  prairies  were  his  bed  and 
resting-  place,  and  a  piece  of  dried  buffalo  meat  satisfied  his  appetite. 
With  this  company  he  remained  connected  until  its  dissolution  in  1834. 
He  then  joined  the  western  branch  of  the  company,  of  which  there  are  liv- 
ing besides  himself  Mr.  Pierre  Chouteau,  and  Mr.  Ramsay  Crooke  of  New 
York.* 

In  June  26, 1842, Mr.  MacKenzie became  united  in  wedlock  to  Miss  Mary 
Marshall,  the  accomplished  daughter  of  Colonel  Marshall,  of  Tennessee. 
In  1826  and  1836  he  visited  Europe,  for  the  purpose  of  gathering  informa- 
tion relative  to  the  process  of  manufacturing  wine,  and  visited  the  most 
celebrated  vintages  of  that  country.  He  is  now  the  efficient  agent  for  the 
Missouri  Wine  Company,  and  his  experience  renders  him  most  suitable  to 
that  position. 

The  life  of  Mr.  MacKenzie  has  been  an  eventful  one,  and  most  of  the 
large  fortune  he  possesses  has  been  gathered  amid  toil,  fatigue  and  danger. 
His  mind  is  stored  with  interesting  anecdotes,  which  lend  a  still  greater 
interest  to  his  natural  social  qualities.  He  probably  knows  better  than 
any  man  living  the  early  history  of  the  settlements  on  the  Missouri. 

*  Since  the  above  was  written,  Mr.  Crooke  is  deceased. 


SAMUEL  GATY. 

A  MAN,  who,  from  an  humble  position  and  by  his  own  efforts,  has 
risen  to  affluence  and  social  position,  and  through  all  the  events  of  a 
chequered  life,  has  preserved  his  integrity  unimpeached,  well  deserves 
the  pen  of  the  historian,  and  to  be  held  up  a  model  to  posterity. 

Samuel  Gaty  was  the  youngest  of  nine  children,  and  born  of  poor  parents, 
August  10th,  1811,  in  Jefferson  county,  Kentucky.  In  his  youth,  at  a 
very  early  age,  he  received  eight  months  of  schooling,  and  directly  he 
reached  the  age  of  ten  years  he  was  put  to  earn  his  bread,  by  serving  an 
apprenticeship  to  a  machinist  in  Louisville;  his  father,  who  was  a  cooper, 
being  anxious  that  he  should  be  put  in  the  way  of  doing  for  himself. 
Some  time  after  entering  upon  his  duties  as  machinist,  the  employer  of 
young  Gaty  died,  and  he  was  thrown  upon  the  world  to  shift  for  himself; 
but  he  resolved,  as  young  as  he  was,  to  adhere  to  the  golden  maxim  of 
"sticking  to  one  thing,"  and, finding  another  competent  machinist  in  the 
person  of  Mr.  Keffer,  he  completed  his  time,  and  fully  learned  all  of  the 
details  of  his  avocation. 

He  then  commenced  business  in  New  Albany,  where  he  worked  a  short 
time,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1828,  he  came  to  St.  Louis  with  two  com- 
panions, Morton  and  Richards.  Their  capital  was  too  small  to  remain 
long  idle,  and  they  commenced  the  foundry  business  together  on  the 
little  sum  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  which  Samuel  Gaty  had  saved 
in  New  Albany.  This  firm  soon  dissolved,  and  Mr.  Gaty  went  to  daily 
work  with  Mr.  Newell  at  the  low  figure  of  one  dollar  and  twenty-five 
cents.  For  many  long  days,  he  worked  for  this  small  sum,  and  in  1829, 
he  again  visited  Louisville,  but,  not  seeing  any  brighter  prospects,  after  a 
short  sojourn,  he  returned  to  St.  Louis,  and  went  into  business  with  Mr. 
Newell,  but  the  concern  did  not  prosper,  and  they  were  compelled  to  wind 
up  their  affairs. 

Samuel  Gaty,  always  self-reliant  and  confident  of  success,  purchased 
the  stock  of  tools  for  twenty-five  hundred  dollars,  for  which  he  gave  his 
notes,  which  were  punctually  paid  at  maturity,  with  the  exception  of 
one,  which  lay  over  one  day  before  it  was  taken  up.  Mr.  Gaty  is  now  a 
wealthy  citizen,  and  through  all  the  extensive  transactions  through  which 
he  has  amassed  his  fortune,  he  has  never  had  another  note  that  was  pro- 
tested. The  very  place  that  Mr.  Gaty  commenced  business,  he  does  his 
business  now ;  but  the  aspect  of  the  concern  is  quite  different.  The  little, 
small  shop  is  replaced  by  a  building  of  extensive  dimensions,  and  the 
amount  of  the  business  reaches  many  hundred  thousands  of  dollars  annu- 
ally. Many  changes  have  been  made  in  the  name  of  the  firm ;  but  Samuel 
Gaty  has  always  continued  a  member,  and  was  the  originator  of  the  con- 
cern, which  is  now  being  conducted  on  the  most  gigantic  scale. 

In  March,  1843,  Mr.  Gaty  was  joined  in  wedlock  to  Miss  Eliza  Jane 
Burbridge,  daughter  of  Benjamin  Burbridge,  Esq.,  of  Louisiana,  Pike 
county,  Missouri,  and  they  have  a  large  family  of  children,  six  of  whom 
are  now  living.  It  is  a  boast  of  Mr.  Gaty's  that  the  large  fortune  which 


SAMUEL    GATY,    ESQ. 

(p.  103.) 

ENGRAVED    EXPRESSLY   FOR   TIl:8    WORK    FROM   A    PHOTOGRAPH    BY    BROWN. 


SAMUEL    GATY.  105 


he  has  amassed,  has  been  made  legitimately  in  the  business  which  he 
chose  at  his  setting  out  in  life,  and  he  has  never  strayed  into  other 
channels.  He  has  never  speculated  in  real  estate  or  any  other  property ; 
never  played  broker  by  shaving  notes  and  taking  advantage  of  the  pecu- 
niary distress  of  others ;  but  has  attended  exclusively  to  one  pursuit,  and 
to  it  alone  is  indebted  for  the  handsome  fortune  he  has  amassed.  His 
motto  in  life  was,  "to  excel  in  all  he  undertook,"  and  his  success  in  life 
shows  how  well  he  has  lived  up  to  the  maxim  which  he  set  before  him 
as  a  guide. 

Mr.  Gaty  has  been  ever  averse  to  the  turbulent  currents  incident  to 
political  life,  and  has  ever  kept  from  being  drawn  into  the  disturbing 
excitement; but  feeling  an  interest  in  all  that  affected  the  welfare  of  St. 
Louis,  he  consented  to  become  a  candidate  for  the  City  Council,  and  was 
elected  a  member  of  that  body  in  1839,  and  served  four  years  with  much 
advantage  to  the  city  and  credit  to  his  constituents.  He  has  always 
been  a  stanch  friend  of  railroads  and  all  other  internal  improvements 
that  would  develop  the  resources  of  the  country,  and  add  to  its  wealth 
and  grandeur.  He  has  been  liberal  in  subscription  of  stock,  and  is  at 
present  a  director  both  in  the  Pacific  and  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rail- 
roads. When  in  the  city  council  he  was  active  in  every  measure  that 
would  contribute  to  the  growth  and  welfare  of  St.  Louis.  He  took  a 
prominent  part  in  locating  the  avenues ;  advocated  the  necessity  of  a 
work-house ;  and  used  all  of  his  influence  and  exertion  in  causing  the 
erection  of  the  water-works,  which  now  supply  the  city  so  plentifully  with 
the  healthful  element. 

A  history  of  Mr.  Gaty's  life  is  useful  for  its  practical  instruction.  He 
has  amassed  a  fortune  that  would  content  the  extravagant  requirements 
of  royalty ;  yet  he  has  never  risked  a  dollar  in  the  precarious  investment 
of  speculation,  but  day  by  day  added  to  his  little  commencement,  and, 
attending  wholly  to  the  one  business,  has  become  honored  for  his  integrity 
and  known  as  one  of  the  princely  manufacturers  of  St.  Louis. 


COLONEL  THORNTON  GRIMSLEY. 

COLONEL  THORNTON  GRIMSLEY  was  born  on  the  20th  of  August,  1798,  in 
Bourbon  county,  Kentucky.  His  father,  Nimrod  Grimsley,  was  a  resi- 
dent of  Fauquier  county,  Virginia,  and  having  a  large  family  removed  to 
Kentucky  at  an  early  day,  and  helped  to  make  up  the  number  of  that 
enterprising  population  who  immigrated  to  what  was  considered  the 
richest  soil  in  America.  His  father  and  mother  did  not  long  live  in  the 
new  homes  which  they  had  chosen,  but  died  during  the  years  1805  and 
1806,  leaving  a  helpless  family  of  eight  children. 

The  subject  of  this  memoir,  by  the  dissolution  of  his  parents,  was  left 
an  orphan  at  seven  years  of  age,  and  three  years  after  losing  his  parents 
he  was  apprenticed  to  the  saddlery  business.  He  served  his  master  faith- 
fully for  eleven  years,  and  the  only  compensation  which  he  received  was 
three  months  of  schooling ;  yet,  by  his  diligent  application  to  business, 
and  a  mind  naturally  of  a  superior  order,  he  soon  won  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  his  master,  and  in  1816  he  was  sent  to  St.  Louis  in  charge 
of  a  valuable  assortment  of  goods,  at  which  place  he  completed  his  term 
of  indenture ;  and  on  reaching  twenty-one  years  of  age,  the  first  act  he  per- 
formed in  his  independent  manhood,  was  to  return  to  Kentucky  and 
attend  school  for  six  months,  from  the  proceeds  of  extra  work  which  he 
had  performed  during  the  term  of  his  apprenticeship. 

After  having  exhausted  his  slender  resources,  in  obedience  to  the  invi- 
tation of  his  old  master,  Thorn  ton  Grimsley  returned  to  St.  Louis,  and 
took  charge  of  his  business  for  about  fourteen  months,  and  then,  feeling 
that  he  could  succeed  better  untrammelled  by  the  dictates  of  a  superior, 
in  1822  he  placed  his  name  upon  a  sign-board,  and  boldly  commenced 
his  fortune. 

St.  Louis  at  that  time  was  young  in  years  and  weak  in  business 
resources ;  and  the  gross  amount  done  by  the  three  little  saddle  and  har- 
ness shops  it  contained,  did  not  exceed  twelve  or  fifteen  thousand  dollars 
per  annum. 

Thornton  Grimsley  had  to  encounter  all  of  the  obstacles  incident  to 
the  lot  of  an  aspiring  young  man  commencing  business  on  a  small  capital, 
and,  joined  with  his  pecuniary  difficulties,  his  health  for  five  years  was 
in  a  precarious  condition. 

On  commencing  business  for  himself  he  married  Miss  Susan  Stark,  of 
Bourbon  county,  Kentucky,  who  was  sister  of  the  wife  of  the  master  un- 
der whom  he  learned  his  trade.  Not  long  after  commencing  his  business, 
and  just  as  he  was  beginning  to  gather  the  fruits  to  which  his  industry 
entitled  him,  a  fire  destroyed  the  property  which  he  had  accumulated 
during  three  years  of  toil,  and  left  him  "  poor  indeed."  When  this  mis- 
fortune occurred  he  was  in  ill  health,  but  did  not  waste  a  moment  in  idle 
regrets,  and  set  about  immediately  in  repairing  what  accident  had  de- 
prived him  of,  and  in  a  little  time  he  was  again  advancing  in  a  prosperous 
career. 


COLONEL    THORNTON    G  R I M S  L  E  Y  . 

(p.  107.) 

NGRAVKD    EXPRK8SLY    FOR    THIS  WORK    FROM    A   PHOTOGRAPH    BY    BHOWN. 


COLONEL    THORNTON    GKIMSLEY.  109 

From  the  frankness  of  his  disposition  and  natural  goodness  of  heart, 
Thornton  Grimsley  had  always  made  himself  hosts  of  friends,  and  in 
1826  was  elected  an  alderman,  and  introduced  into  that  body  the  subject 
of  grading  the  wharf  in  front  of  the  city,  and  strongly  advocated  that  the 
western  edge  should  be.  raised  three  feet  higher  than  its  pres- 
ent grade.  Had  his  proposition  been  acceded  to,  Front-street  would 
not  be  inundated  at  every  high  flood  of  the  river,  and  its  property  would 
be  much  more  valuable. 

In  1828  Colonel  Grimsley  was  called  to  the  legislature  of  the  state,  where 
he  was  a  useful  and  efficient  member.  He  used  his  efforts  to  have  com- 
pleted the  national  road  to  Jefferson  City,  and  advocated  other  important 
measures.  In  1835  he  was  again  elected  alderman,  and  did  much  for 
settling  satisfactorily  the  important  claim  of  the  St.  Louis  Commons. 
From  this  tract  was  selected  Lafayette  Park,  and  the  spacious  avenues 
about  it.  From  the  liberal  dimensions  of  this  park,  some  of  the  short- 
sighted citizens,  in  derision,  called  it  Grimsley's  folly — now  it  is  one  of 
the  chief  ornaments  of  our  large  and  growing  city. 

So  useful  was  Colonel  Grimsley  in  his  political  life,  that  in  1838  he  was 
sent  to  the  State  Senate,  and  lent  all  of  his  influence  for  the  passage  of 
the  bill  for  the  construction  of  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad,  and  also  for 
the  establishment  of  a  workhouse. 

Though  Colonel  Grimsley  was  so  liberally  rewarded  with  civic  honors  he 
was  not  unmindful  of  military  glory.  He  has  filled  all  of  the  stations, 
from  an  orderly  to  division  inspector;  in  1832  he  raised  a  volunteer  com- 

giny  and  tendered  their  services  to  the  Governor  of  Illinois  during  the 
lack  Hawk  war,  and  in  1836  received  from  General  Jackson  a  captain's 
commission  in  the  dragoons  of  the  United  States  army.  He  declined 
this  honor  as  it  was  in  time  of  peace,  and  wisely  stuck  to  his  business 
pursuits.  He  has  now  been  engaged  thirty-seven  years  in  his  only  pur- 
suit, and  does  now  a  business  of  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  per 
annum. 

In  1846,- in  less  than  twenty  days  he  enrolled  a  regiment  of  eight  hun- 
dred men  for  the  Mexican  war,  but  being  politically  opposed  to  the  Gov-^ 
ernor  of  Missouri,  he  was  refused  a  commission  and  another  appointed  in 
his  stead. 

Colonel  Grimsley  has  been  the  father  of  ten  children,  four  of  whom  are 
now  living  and  happily  and  prosperously  settled  in  life.  He  has  now 
amassed  a  competent  fortune,  and  in  the  autumn  of  life  is  enjoying  the 
fruits  with  which  industry  ever  rewards  the  managing  and  persevering. 


COLONEL    LEWIS    V.    BOGY. 

COLONEL  Louis  V.  BOGY  is  emphatically  a  Western  man.  His  father, 
Joseph  Bogy,  who  was  of  Scotch  descent,  was  a  native  of  Kaskaskia,  Illi- 
nois ;  and  his  mother's  family,  of  the  name  of  Vital,  were  among  the 
earliest  settlers  in  Missouri ;  the  mother,  Mary  Vital,  is  still  living  at  an 
advanced  age.  Joseph  Bogy  filled  the  responsible  position  of  private 
secretary  to  Governor  Morales,  while  the  states  of  Louisiana  and  Missouri 
were  under  the  Spanish  domination ;  when  Missouri  became  a  territory, 
he  became  a  member  of  the  territorial  council ;  when  she  was  received 
into  the  national  confederacy,  he  was  elected  to  the  legislature ;  and  for 
many  years  he  was  cashier  of  the  old  Bank  of  Missouri  at  St.  Genevieve. 
He  had  a  family  of  seven  children,  of  whom  Lewis  V.  Bogy,  the  subject 
of  this  memoir,  was  the  fourth. 

Lewis  V.  Bogy  was  born  April  9th,  1815,  in  St.  Genevieve  county, 
Missouri,  and  learned  the  rudiments  of  the  English  language  under  a 
Swiss  instructor,  who  kept  the  little  school  of  the  place.  Much  of  his 
time  was  spent  in  working  on  the  farm,  until  he  was  attacked  by  a  malady 
which  rendered  him  unfit  to  work  for  two  years.  While  he  was  power- 
less and  suffering  from  a  "  white  swelling,"  he  carefully  cultivated  his 
mind,  and  read  all  of  the  books  he  could  obtain ;  by  this  means  he 
garnered  a  variety  of  desultory  information,  and  contracted  a  passion 
for  information  which  probably  influenced  his  after  destiny.  In  1830, 
he  took  the  situation  of  clerk  in  a  store  at  a  salary  of  $200  per  an- 
num, half  of  which  he  had,  according  to  contract,  to  take  out  in 
trade.  However,  by  the  frugality  of  his  habits,  he  managed  to  pur- 
chase some  books  from  his  income,  and  read  by  snatches  of  time 
some  of  the  elementary  books  of  law,  and  also  resolutely  undertook  the 
study  of  the  Latin  language  under  the  guidance  of  Father  Condamine,  a 
Catholic  priest  and  accomplished  scholar.  In  January,  1832,  he  went 
from  St.  Genevieve  to  Kaskaskia,  and  read  law  in  the  office  of  Judge  Pope, 
toll  May  of  that  year.  He  volunteered  for  the  Black  Hawk  war,  was 
engaged  in  two  desperate  battles  with  the  Indians,  and  was  present  at 
the  taking  of  Black  Hawk. 

After  the  conclusion  of  the  Indian  campaign,  Lewis-  V.  Bogy  returned 
to  Kaskaskia,  where  he  continued  reading  law  till  1833,  when  he  deter- 
mined to  go  a  short  time  to  the  distinguished  University  of  Transylvania 
at  Lexington,  Kentucky,  where  the  facility  of  getting  books  was  so  much 
greater  than  at  Kaskaskia.  He  received  a  flattering  letter  of  introduction 
from  Judge  Pope  to  Judge  Mays  at  Lexington,  and  commenced  reading 
under  that  eminent  jurist.  In  the  spring  of  1834,  he  commenced  teaching 
a  country  school,  so  as  to  liquidate  the  debt  he  contracted  with  Judge 
Mays,  while  studying  in  the  winter,  and  also  to  gather  resources  to  com- 
plete his  course.  With  a  will  that  never  yields  to  opposing  obstacles, 
he  did  complete  his  course,  and  returned  to  Missouri  in  the  spring  of 
1835,  settled  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  and  commenced  the  practice 
of  his  profession.  From  the  very  first  Colonel  Bogy  was  successful  as  a 


COLONEL    LEWIS    V.    BOGY, 
President  of  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad  Company. 

(P.  ir.) 

ENGRAVED  EXl'BESSLY   FOR  THIS   WORK   FKOM   A   PIIOTOGUAPH   BY  TKOXELL 


COLONEL  LEWIS  V.  BOGY.  113 

lawyer,  and  the  first  offering  which  he  received  from  his  clients  he  sent 
to  Judge  Mays,  to  discharge  a  debt  due  for  instruction,  and  also  interest 
on  the  amount.  The  worthy  judge,  however,  returned  the  interest  with 
a  complimentary  letter. 

Colonel  Bogy,  by  the  popularity  of  his  manners,  and  by  the  rare  suc- 
cess which  crowned  his  efforts,  soon  acquired  an  extensive  and  lucrative 
practice,  and  was  nominated  for  the  legislature  and  elected,  in  1840. 
He  also  served  in  that  respectable  body  in  1854-5,  and  made  an  effective 
speech  on  the  passage  of  the  railroad  law,  which  Governor  Price  vetoed, 
but  which  was  passed  by  the  house  over  the  veto.  In  1847,  he  pur- 
chased an  interest  in  Pilot  Knob,  the  most  distinguished  iron  deposit 
in  Missouri,  but  owing  to  its  great  distance,  forty-seven  miles  from 
the  Mississippi,  many  owning  shares  in  the  corporation  became  dis- 
couraged, and  disposed  of  their  interest,  which  Colonel  Bogy  imme- 
diately bought  up,  having  faith  in  the  ultimate  value  of  the  country. 
The  Iron  Mountain  Railroad,  in  which  the  Pilot  Knob  Iron  Company 
invested  $50,000  in  stock,  has  now  reached  Pilot  Knob,  and  the  works 
are  now  carried  on  in  full  operation,  and  the  business  is  of  a  most  profit- 
able nature.  Colonel  Bogy  now  owns  one  half  of  the  stock  of  the  com- 
pany, and  was  its  president  for  nine  years. 

Pilot  Knob,  the  present  terminus  of  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad,  is 
one  of  the  most  romantic  spots  in  the  world.  The  village  is  situated  at 
the  base  of  the  mountain,  and  lands  which  a  few  years  ago  could  scarcely 
be  given  away,  now  are  in  great  demand,  and  day  by  day  are  increasing 
in  value.  The  Pilot  Knob  Company,  over  which  Colonel  Bogy  so  long 
presided,  have  made  the  beautiful  little  village,  which  is  now  so  rapidly 
growing  into  importance. 

For  many  years  Colonel  Bogy  has  retired  from  the  legal  profession, 
and  devoted  himself  to  developing  the  resources  of  that  portion  of  the  iron 
country  in  which  he  is  so  largely  interested.  He  married  a  daughter  of 
General  Bernard  Pratt,  and  has  filled  with  honor  the  most  important 
positions.  He  was  first  President  of  the  Exchange  Bank  of  this  city ; 
has  been  a  Commissioner  of  Public  Schools,  and  taken  an  active  part  in 
promoting  their  welfare;  and  in  1852,  was  the  chosen  candidate  of  the 
demociatic  party,  and  took  the  field  against  the  late  Honorable  Thomas 
H.  Benton,  and  is  now  the  President  of  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad. 
^  Colonel  Bogy  is  a  child  of  Missouri,  and  has  been  nursed  amidst  her 
institutions.  He  has,  through  a  long  course  of  successful  life,  shown  him- 
solf  worthy  of  all  honor,  and,  still  in  the  meridian  of  his  existence,  the 
state  in  which  he  first  drew  his  breath  can  hope  all  things  from  his  talents, 
patriotism,  and  integrity. 


JOHN   SIMONDS. 

JOHN  SIMONDS  was  born  March  13th,  1800,  in  Windsor  county,  Ver- 
mont. His  parentage  was  respectable,  and  his  father  could  boast  of  being 
descended  from  the  Huguenots  of  France,  and  his  mother  could  claim  as 
a  progenitor  one  of  the  self-exiled  bands  of  Pilgrims  who  landed  in  1620 
on  the  rocky  promontory  of  Plymouth.  John  Simonds,  the  father  of  the 
subject  of  this  memoir,  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1817,  and  the  year  follow- 
ing he  wrote  to  his  wife  to  join  him,  which  she  soon  did  with  young 
John  and  his  sister.  Mr.  Simonds  filled  the  important  post  of  "harbor- 
master" for  several  years,  and  died  in  1839. 

The  only  advantage  which  John  Simonds,  jr.,  enjoyed  in  the  way  of 
education  he  received  from  the  common  schools,  which  at  that  time  were 
very  limited  in  the  degree  of  education  they  could  impart.  However, 
by  his  own  efforts,  he  stored  his  mind  with  much  valuable  information, 
and  qualified  himself  to  fill  with  honor  the  important  positions  in  life 
which  he  has  since  occupied.  He  was  appointed  deputy  constable  in 
1819,  which  was  the  first  office  he  held  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  In  1821 
he  was  deputy  sheriff,  which  office  he  filled  with  credit  and  satisfaction 
In  1825  he  was  appointed  United  States  marshal,  but  being  politically 
opposed  to  General  Jackson,  was  removed  in  1828.  Mr.  Simonds  then 
determined,  for  the  future,  no  longer  to  be  a  candidate  for  political  office, 
which  exists  by  so  precarious  a  tenure,  and  applied  himself  to  steamboat- 
ing;  and  between  the  years  1828  to  1835,  Captain  Simonds  was  as 
favorably  known  as  any  officer  who  plied  between  the  "  Mound  "  and 
"  Crescent  City." 

In  1835  Captain  Simonds  opened  a  large  commission  house,  which  he 
successfully  pursued  until  the  year  1852,  when  he  commenced  the  bank- 
ing business  with  James  H.  Lucas,  with  whom  he  continued  as  partner 
until  January,  1857;  and  then,  retiring  from  that  firm,  the  same  year 
again  commenced  the  banking  house  known  as  Simonds  and  Taylor,  in 
which  responsible  business  he  still  remains. 

Captain  Simonds  has  been  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Miss 
Theresa  Geyer,  sister  of  the  late  Hon.  H.  S.  Geyer,  whom  he  married 
March  4th,  1824,  and  there  are  still  living  by  this  marriage  two  daugh- 
ters. After  losing  his  first  wife,  he  married  Miss  Susan  M.  Kennett,  his 
present  estimable  lady,  May  5th,  1852.  He  has  filled  many  important  offices. 
For  many  years  he  was  president  of  the  Citizens'  Insurance  Company,  and 
also  for  a  considerable  period  president  of  the  Board  of  Underwriters. 

For  some  years  Captain  Simonds  has  been  a  ruling  elder  in  the  Second 
Presbyterian  church,  and  to  the  character  of  the  prompt  and  successful 
business  man,  he  adds  the  adornment  of  Christian  piety. 


\\ 


CAPTAIN    JOHN    SIMONDS. 

(p.  115.) 

EXGXAVED    EXPRESSLY    FOR   THIS    WORK   FROM    A    PHOTOGRAPH    BY    BROWN. 


GEORGE    R.    TAYLOR,    ESQ., 
President  of  the  Pacific  Railroad   Company. 

(p.  117.) 

ENGRAVED   EXPRESSLY  FOR  THIS   WORK   FROM   A   PHOTOGRAPH   BY  TROXEL. 


GEORGE  R.   TAYLOR, 

PRESIDENT    OF    THE    PACIFIC    RAILROAD    COMPANY. 

GEORGE  R.  TAYLOR  is  a  Virginian  by  birth,  having  been  born  in  Alex- 
andria, November  11,  1818.  His  father,  Evan  P.  Taylor,  was  engaged  in 
manufacturing  and  mercantile  pursuits  at  that  place,  but  dying  when 
George  was  but  six  years  old,  his  education  devolved  upon  his  mother, 
who,  intending  George  for  the  law,  gave  to  him  the  preparatory  education 
suitable  for  his  future  vocation. 

Immediately  on  completing  his  education,  George  R.Taylor  commenced 
reading  law  under  Thomas  Semmes,  Esq.,  of  Alexandria,  and  for  two  years 
and  a  half  remained  under  his  instruction.  Afterward  he  went  to  Staun- 
ton,  Virginia,  where  there  was  a  law  school  of  high  repute  under  the  charge 
of  Judge  Thompson,  an  eminent  jurist.  After  enjoying  the  benefit  of 
that  institution  he  returned  to  Alexandria  in  1841,  where  he  received 
license  to  practise  his  profession. 

Being  properly  fitted  to  enter  upon  the  current  of  life,  young  Taylor 
was,  for  a  little  while,  in  doubt  in  what  waters  he  should  launch  himself 
with  the  greatest  prospect  of  success ;  and  every  thing  in  Alexandria  ap- 
pearing too  stagnant  for  his  ambitious  views,  he  started  for  the  West,  and 
arrived  in  St.  Louis  in  June,  1841.  Possessing  in  a  high  degree  that 
frankness  so  characteristic  of  the  Virginian,  and  animated  by  friendly  and 
honorable  motives,  he  quickly  made  a  favorable  impression,  and  could 
soon  number,  as  his  friends,  some  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of  St. 
Louis.  He  formed  a  partnership  with  Wilson  Primm,  Esq.,  which  con- 
tinued until  1849. 

The  people  of  the  ward  in  which  George  R.  Taylor  resided  soon  gave 
to  him  an  evidence  of  their  high  esteem  and  confidence,  by  electing  him 
a  member  of  the  Common  Council,  when  his  devotion  to  St.  Louis  Avas 
exemplified  by  the  liberal  measures  he  took  to  advance  its  interest,  and 
to  adorn  it.  After  the  destruction  by  the  great  fire  of  so  much  of  the 
lower  part  of  the  city,  he  was  the  first  to  propose  and  advocate  the  widen- 
ing of  Main  street,  whose  original  dimensions  were  so  unsuitable  to  the 
magnitude  of  its  business.  His  resolution  was  adopted,  and  Main  street 
was  widened.  He  then  proposed  to  widen  the  levee  by  purchasing  Comr 
mercial  street,  and  adding  it  to  the  narrow  strip  of  land  which  is  so  un- 
comfortably loaded  and  jammed  by  the  business  which  forms  the  immense 
commerce  of  St.  Louis.  Had  his  wishes  been  acceded  to,  we  should  have 
had  a  levee  creditable  to  the  city,  and  sufficient  for  the  comfort  and  ex- 
tent of  the  business  which  is  transacted  upon  it.  At  his  suggestion,  a 
piece  of  land  was  purchased  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  City  Hall,  but 
an  opportunity  of  reselling  it  at  a  considerable  advance,  being  offered,  it 
4 


120  GEORGE    R.    TAYLOR. 


was  sold  and  dedicated  to  other  purposes.*  In  this  measure,  he  was  effi- 
ciently assisted  by  the  late  Colonel  A.  B.  Chambers  and  Adolphus  Meier. 

George  Taylor  has  always  been  friendly  to  the  railroad  policy,  and  acted 
as  secretary  to  the  first  meeting  that  was  held  at  the  Planters'  House.  So 
popular  was  he  with  the  people,  and  possessed  in  so  high  a  degree  their 
confidence,  that  he  was  again  elected  to  the  Common  Council  in  1856-'?  ; 
and  still  again  in  1859.  He  always  officiated  as  president  of  the  board. 

Until  recently  the  buildings  of  St.  Louis  were  sadly  deficient  in  height, 
and  to  him  belongs  the  credit  of  creating  an  era  in  building.  He  was 
the  first  to  have  erected  a  six-story  house  in  St.  Louis,  and  people  finding 
the  style  to  architecture  which  height  necessarily  gives,  soon  followed  his 
example,  and  buildings  commenced  to  go  up,  which  widely  contrasted  with 
the  pigmy  architecture  formerly  in  fashion.  St.  Louis  for  many  years  had 
been  in  want  of  a  first-class  hotel,  and  several  attempts  had  been  made  to 
supply  the  necessity,  by  meetings,  subscriptions  of  stock,  &c.,  but  all  of  the 
eft'orts  made  resulted  in  nothing.  This  public  necessity  was  supplied  by 
Mr.  Taylor,  who  had  the  spirit  and  enterprise  to  build,  unsupported,  the 
large  structure  known  as  Barn  urn's  St.  Louis  Hotel,  which  was  two  years 
in  building,  and  reared  at  a  cost  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  He 
was  also  the  leading  spirit  who  brought  into  existence  the  Merchants' 
Exchange,  which  was  reared  on  the  site  of  the  "Old  Market ;"  and  so  sat- 
isfied were  the  stockholders  of  the  active  part  that  he  took  in  this  particu- 
lar, that  in  appreciation  of  his  services,  they  presented  him  with  a  beautiful 
set  of  silver  as  a  testimonial,  at  a  cost  of  $1,000.  He  was  president  of  the 
board  of  trustees  who  had  charge  of  the  building,  and  still  continues  in 
office.  When  the  city  was  suffering  many  years  ago  for  a  building  suita- 
ble for  a  Post  Office,  he  organized  an  association,  of  which  he  was  elected 
president,  and  built  on  the  place  to  which  the  Post  Office  was  removed, 
on  the  corner  of  Second  and  Chesnut  streets. 

Mr.  Taylor  married  Miss  Theresa  L.  Paul,  August  9,  1846,  daughter  of 
Gabriel  Paul,  and  granddaughter  of  Colonel  Aiiguste  Chouteau,  so  well 
known  in  the  annals  of  St.  Louis.  Since  he  has  been  a  resident  of  St.  Louis, 
he  has  been  identified  with  measures  that  have  been  prolific  of  the  greatest 
good.  During  the  different  terms  he  served  in  the  Common  Council,  he 
has  been  liberal  in  his  municipal  policy,  and  anxious  for  the  welfare  of  the 
city.  In  all  public-spirited  measures,  he  has  taken  a  prominent  part. 
Through  his  efforts  and  influence,  the  Merchants'  Exchange  came  into  be- 
ing, and  he  had  the  nerve  to  build,  unassisted,  Barnum's  St.  Louis  Hotel, 
when  St.  Louis  greatly  needed  a  public  house  of  that  description.  He 
was  one  of  the  corporators  of  the  St.  Louis  Railroad  Company,  and  sub- 
scribed to  its  stock  the  amount  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  He  is 
just  in  the  prime  of  active  manhood,  eminent  for  his  public  enterprise; 
popular  with  all  classes  of  citizens;  and  is  now  the  efficient  president  of 
the  Pacific  Railroad  Company. 

•  *  It  was  through  his  advice  that  the  old  City  Hall  was  torn  down,  being  unsuitable 
to  the  requirements  of  the  city,  and  a  plan  for  one  of  a  structure  of  larger  dimensions, 
with  all  the  modern  conveniences,  was  determined  upon.  A  portion  of  land  was  pur- 
chased, but  the  land  was  found  to  be  too  valuable  to  complete  a  City  Hall,  which  had 
been  commenced,  and  other  buildings  were  erected,  which  were  devoted  to  commercial 
purposes.  The  whole  of  that  part  of  Main  street  then  commenced  to  be  improved,  and 
the  Merchants'  Exchange  is  situated  in  the  midst  of  stately  buildings. 


ADOLPHUS    MEIER,    ESQ. 

(p.   121.) 

KNORAVED    KXPKES8LY    FOR  THIS   WORK    FROM    A    PHOTOORAIMI    BY    BROWN. 


ADOLPHUS  MEIER. 

ADOLPHUS  MEIER  was  born  in  the  city  of  Bremen,  Germany,  on  May  8, 
1810.  His  father,  Dr.  G.  Meier,  occupied  a  very  honorable  and  influential 
position,  being  a  lawyer  of  that  city,  and  secretary  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
He  gave  his  son,  Adolphus,  all  the  opportunities  of  an  early  education, 
which  were  ample  in  Bremen,  and  further  to  improve  it,  sent  him  for 
some  time  to  Switzerland. 

After  completing  his  education  Adolphus  Meir  spent  three  years  in  a 
large  banking  house,  where  he  became  instructed  in  the  diplomacy  of 
banking  ;  but  wishing  for  a  more  active  field  of  pursuit  engaged  for  some 
time  in  the  shipping  business.  On  May  9, 1831,  he  commenced  business 
on  his  own  account,  and  was  successful  from  the  very  onset ;  and  feeling 
comfortable  in  life,  on  April  21,  1835,  was  married  to  Miss  Anna  R.  Rust, 
daughter  of  a  respectable  merchant  of  his  native  city.  Mr.  Meier  having 
freighted  many  vessels  with  emigrants,  at  Bremen,  had  heard  much  of  the 
United  States,  and  particularly  of  the  fertility  of  the  great  valley  where 
flows  the  "  Father  of  Waters."  After  satisfying  himself  beyond  doubt 
that  the  representations  were  facts,  he  started  from  Bremen  for  New  Or- 
leans, on  October  20,  1836,  with  his  wife,  child  and  "household  gods." 
After  landing  at  New  Orleans,  Mr.  Meier  took  passage  for  St.  Louis,  and 
arrived  there  on  March  2,  1837.  He  opened  a  hardware  store  in  an 
old  ricketty  building  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Chesnut  streets.  He 
occupies  that  spot  to  the  present  day,  but  the  old  building  has  been  torn 
down,  and  a  splendid  edifice  erected  in  its  stead,  where  the  firm  of 
Adolphus  Meier  &  Co.  conduct  their  extensive  operations.  The  firm  con- 
sists of  Adolphus  Meier,  his  eldest  son,  and  Mr.  John  C.  Rust. 

In  1844,  Adolphus  Meier  &  Co.  started  a  cotton  factory,  which  was  the 
first  spinning-mill  west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  It  had  at  first  eight  hun- 
dred spindles,  which  soon  increased  to  double  the  number,  and  the  firm 
soon  erected  a  new  and  commodious  building,  where  they  could  conduct 
their  operations  on  a  more  extended  scale,  with  new  and  improved  ma- 
chinery. The  factory  did  a  successful  business  until  1857,  when  it  was 
totally  destroyed,  by  fire. 

After  the  accident  by  fire  the  firm  agreed  to  transfer  the  business  to  a 
company  under  a  charter  from  the  state,  which  was  incorporated  as  the 
"  St.  Louis  Cotton  Factory,"  most  of  the  stock  being  owned  by  Adolphus 
Meier  &  Co.  Mr.  Meier  is  president  of  the  company,  and  the  factory  is 
doing  a  lucrative  business.  The  name  of  Adolphus  Meier  carries  with  it  a 
great  weight  and  influence  in  the  mercantile  world,  and  the  purity  of  his 
character,  and  frankness  of  disposition  have  endeared  him  to  a 'large  cir- 
cle of  friends. 


HON.  TRUSTED  POLK. 

TRUSTEN  POLK  was  born  May  29, 1811,  in  Sussex  county,  state  of  Dela- 
ware. His  parents  were  placed  in  a  respectable  position  in  life,  and,  being 
designed  from  a  boy  to  pursue  a  profession,  bis  education,  from  the  very 
commencement,  was  conducted  in  accordance  with  his  future  position  in 
life.  He  was  sent  to  the  schools  in  his  neighborhood,  and  then  to  an 
academy  at  Cambridge  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland,  that  he  might 
have  every  advantage  of  a  proper  preparatory  education  previous  to  en- 
tering college.  He  was  then  sent  to  Yale  College  at  New  Haven,  and 
after  graduating,  he  was  still  continued  amid  the  classic  associations  of 
that  celebrated  institution,  and  in  the  Law  School  began  the  study  of  his 
future  profession. 

After  going  through  a  finished  course  at  Yale,  Mr.  Polk  returned  home, 
and  was  for  a  short  time  engaged  in  learning  the  practical  duties  of  his  pro- 
fession in  the  office  of  an  eminent  attorney,  before  he  was  admitted  to  prac- 
tise. He  soon  found  that  the  business  of  his  little  state  was  monopolized  by 
a  few  old  lawyers  of  long  practice  and  extensive  acquaintance  ;  and  that  a 
young  lawyer,  no  matter  what  were  his  abilities,  would  have  to  spend  the 
first  years  of  his  life  in  comparative  idleness,  before  he  could  hope  for  any 
thing  like  a  proper  remuneration  for  his  services.  These  prospects  were 
not  favorable  enough,  for  one  of  Mr.  Polk's  aspiring  disposition  ;  so  he  cast 
his  eyes  toward  the  West,  where  the  states  were  new,  and  all  entered  the 
field  on  an  equality.  There  talent  would  at  once  meet  its  reward,  and 
the  country  being  peopled  with  strangers,  a  young  lawyer's  merit  would 
at  once  be  tested,  and  he  would  not  be  doomed  to  spend  the  first  golden 
days  of  youth  in  indolent  obscurity,  as  he  would  be  compelled  to  do  in 
states  that  have  been  long  settled,  and  where  there  is  no  immigration. 
Influenced  by  these  considerations,  Mr.  Polk  started  in  1835  for  the  state 
of  Missouri,  and  located  himself  in  St.  Louis. 

It  is  often  asserted,  but  without  a  shadow  of  reasonable  support,  that 
if  a  man  have  genius  and  talent  he  will  become  eminent  in  the  sphere  he 
moves  in,  even  if  he  has  not  the  advantages  of  proper  previous  training. 
Examples  are  often  given  of  men,  who,  by  the  mere  force  of  intellect,  with- 
out its  being  strengthened  by  proper  training  and  preparation,  become 
lights  in  the  various  professions  and  avocations  of  life.  These  incidents 
are  as  rare  as  "angel  visits;"  and  if  youth  were  not  prepared  by  fitting  in- 
struction for  the  different  professions,  the  bar,  the  pulpit,  and  the  labora- 
tory would  soon  present  a  sorry  figure,  and  would  receive  the  ridicule  of 
any  intelligent  order  of  citizens.  Fortunately  for  Mr.  Polk,  he  had  re- 
ceived all  the  adventitious  assistance  of  thorough  training  in  mental  exer- 
cise, previous  to  commencing  the  study  of  the  law,  and  when  he  had  mas- 
tered his  profession,  he  possessed  an  untold  advantage  over  those  who  had 


HONORABLE  TEUSTEN  POLK. 


KNGKAVF.I>   EX1-RE881.Y   FOR  THIS   WORK    FROM    A    PHOTOGRAPH    11Y    BROWN 


HON.    TRUSTEN   POLK.  127 


been  deprived  of  a  suitable  preparatory  education.  His  polished  eloquence, 
the  fund  of  knowledge  which  he  could  draw  from  a  thousand  sources  to 
strengthen  and  adorn  it,  and  his  suavity  of  manner,  soon  won  him  hosts  of 
friends,  and  made  him  eminent  as  a  lawyer. 

Two  years  after  his  arrival  in  St.  Louis,  Mr.  Polk  united  in  marriage, 
December  26,  1837,  with  Miss  Elizabeth  W.  Skinner,  the  second  daughter 
of  Curtis  and  Anne  Skinner,  who  had  been  long  residents  in  Missouri,  and 
had  emigrated  from  New  Windsor,  Connecticut.  For  several  years  after- 
ward, he  pursued  an  extensive  and  lucrative  practice,  until  the  labors  in- 
cident to  a  successful  career  in  the  legal  profession,  began  to  tell  upon  his 
constitution,  and  threaten  a  premature  decline.  He  was  compelled  to  re- 
tire from  his  pursuits,  that  his  health  might  be  recruited.  During  this 
interval  of  relaxation,  which  was  a  portion  of  1844  and  '45,  he  spent  one 
winter  in  Louisiana  and  the  Isle  of  Cuba,  and  the  ensuing  summer,  he 
travelled  in  the  New  England  states  and  Canada.  During  his  absence  as 
a  valetudinarian,  he  was  selected  by  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  county  as  a 
member  of  the  convention  which  met  in  1845  for  the  purpose  of  remod- 
elling the  constitution  of  the  state,  and  did  good  service  in  the  honorable 
capacity  in  which  he  served. 

It  was  not  to  be  supposed  that  a  man  of  Mr.  Folk's  ability  and  popu- 
larity should  not  receive  from  the  public, some  demonstration  of  its  confi- 
dence, by  an  appointment  to  some  high  official  position.  In  1856  he  was 
appointed  by  the  Democratic  party  as  candidate  for  governor.'  It  was  at 
a  time  of  much  political  excitement ;  for  the  "  Know  Nothing''  party  and 
the  "  Free  Soil"  party  had  their  strongest  champions  in  the  field,  and 
each  were  exerting  themselves  to  the  utmost  to  obtain  a  supremacy.  In 
this  warm  contest,  Mr.  Polk  was  elected  to  the  chief  magistracy  of  the 
state,  and  in  due  time  was  invested  with  all  the  honors  of  his  new  appoint- 
ment. He  had  exercised  his  prerogatives  but  a  few  weeks  before  he  re- 
ceived still  further  evidence  of  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by 
the  public,  by  receiving  from  the  legislature  of  the  state  the  appointment 
of  United  States  Senator.  In  possession,  at  one  time,  of  the  two  highest 
political  gifts  which  it  was  in  the  power  of  his  state  to  bestow,  it  was  in- 
cumbent that  he  should  resign  one  of  his  official  stations,  and  he  gave  up 
the  gubernatorial  chair,  that  he  might  represent  his  state  in  the  Senate  of 
the  national  Congress.  This  honorable  position  he  still  enjoys,  and  is  an 
efficient  member  of  the  august  body  to  which  he  belongs. 

In  his  profession,  Mr.  Polk  deservedly  occupies  a  place  in  the  first  rank. 
He  is  characterized  by  his  honorable  bearing,  his  urbanity  of  manner,  and 
perfect  freedom  from  vituperation  in  debate.  His  eloquence  is  of  the 
Chesterfield  style,  impressive,  conciliatory,  but  always  free  from  the  gusty 
excitement  of  passion.  In  politics  he  belongs  to  the  Democratic  party,  is 
firm  in  his  political  faith,  and  warmly  attached  to  its  principles.  He  was 
a  warm  advocate  of  the  common-school  system,  when  in  its  incipiency, 
and  has  been  for  many  years  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


BERNARD    PRATTE. 

THE  Pratte  family  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  families  in  Missouri,  and 
came  to  the  state  when  it  had  nothing  but  pioneer  attractions.  Bernard 
Pratte  was  born  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  December  17,  1803.  His  father, 
General  Bernard  Pratte,  and  his  father's  mother,  were  both  born  in  St.  Gen- 
evieve,  and  his  grandmother  and  her  mother  were  born  in  St.  Louis.  His 
father  was  a  respectable  merchant,  and  completed  his  education  in  Cana- 
da, as  St.  Louis  at  that  time  possessed  none  of  the  advantages  of  educa- 
tion. He  filled  positions  of  trust  and  responsibility,  and  was  a  leading 
man  in  the  growing  city.  From  his  education,  his  integrity  and  the  con- 
fidence of  the  people,  General  Pratte  was  an  acquisition  to  Missouri,  and  was 
appointed  one  of  its  territorial  judges,  a  post  which  be  held  with  entire 
satisfaction,  and  filled  with  consummate  ability.  He  was  .patriotic  in  his 
feelings,  and  when  war  was  declared  in  1812,  he  commanded  an  expedi- 
tion to  Fort  Madison,  and  served  his  country  until  a  permanent  peace 
was  established.  His  great  weight  of  character  and  unimpeachable  integ- 
rity had  a  wide  reputation,  and  during  the  administration  of  Mr.  Monroe, 
unsolicited  on  his  part,  he  was  appointed  receiver  of  public  moneys  at  St. 
Louis. 

Young  Bernard  Pratte  was  raised  under  the  most  salutary  influences. 
He  had  the  presence  and  example  of  his  father  continually  before  him,  to 
form  his  character,  and  incite  him  to  honorable  emulation.  His  father 
being  highly  educated,  greatly  appreciated  mental  cultivation,  and  he  was 
sent  early  to  the  schools  of  the  city,  where  he  was  kept  until  he  was  fifteen 
years  of  age,  and  then  sent  to  Georgetown,  Kentucky,  where  he  remained 
until  he  graduated  at  that  institution. 

In  1821  Bernard  Pratte  returned  to  St.  Louis,  and  it  then  being  required 
that  he  should  enter  upon  his  business  career,  he  commenced  under  the 
tutorship  of  his  father,  and  spent  many  years  of  his  life  in  trading  between 
St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans,  doing  a  very  extensive  and  a  very  lucrative 
business.  He  was  taken  in  partnership  by  his  father,  and  the  firm  of  Ber- 
nard Pratte  &  Co.  had  an  enviable  reputation  in  the  commercial  world. 
They  were  extensive  dealers  in  fur,  peltry,  and  Indian  goods ;  and  suc- 
cessful in  all  their  operations. 

Bernard  Pratte  was  always  of  a  venturesome  and  ambitious  nature,  and 
anxious  to  occupy  a  prominent  position  in  his  business.  It  was  as  late  as 
1832  when  no  steamboat  had  navigated  the  Missouri  as  far  as  the  mouth 
of  the  Yellow  Stone.  The  whole  of  the  Missouri  River  had  been  explored, 
it  is  ti'ue,  as  far  as  its  source,  and  adventurous  spirits  had  many  years 
traded  with  barbarous  tribes  of  Indians  living  contiguous  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains ;  but  the  river  was  so  filled  with  snags  and  stumps,  that  it  was 
deemed  too  perilous  to  risk  a  steamboat  in  a  current  so  filled  with  danger- 


BERNARD    PRATT  E,     ESQ., 
f.tife  Mayor  of  St.  Loidx 

(p.  129.) 

•ENGRAVED    EXPRESSLY    FOR  THIS   WORK   KROM   A    PHOTOGRAPH    BY   BROWN 


BERNARD    PRATTE.  131 


ous  obstacles.  Bernard  Pratte,  in  connection  with  Pierre  Chouteau,  in 
1832  resolved  to  attempt  the  passage  of  the  Missouri  as  far  as  the  Yellow 
Stone,  and,  contrary  to  the  predictions  of  the  oldest  navigators,  he  success- 
fully accomplished  his  undertaking.  This  feat  established  an  era  in  the 
navigation  of  the  Missouri  River,  and  since  that  time,  the  whistle  of  the 
steam-engine  has  been  heard  in  the  wild  regions  occupied  by  the  Crows 
and  the  Blackfeet. 

In  1833,  the  copartnership  existing  between  Bernard  Pratte  and  his 
father  was  dissolved,  and  a  new  firm  established,  entitled  Mulligan  &  Pratte. 
The  new  firm  came  into  being  under  favorable  auspices,  and  maintained  a 
high  reputation  until  it  was  dissolved  by  the  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Mulligan 
in  1840.  Mr.  Pratte  still  continued  in  business,  until  a  new  partner  was 
taken  in,  and  a  firm  was  established,  known  as  Pratte  <fc  Cabane,  which  had 
an  honorable  and  successful  existence  for  six  years,  when,  Mr.  Pratte  having 
amassed  independence,  retired  from  the  business  arena,  on  which  he  had 
for  many  years  been  a  prominent  actor.  Two  years  before  he  gave  up  his 
commercial  pursuits,  he  was  elected  mayor  of  the  city,  which  honorable 
office  he  held  for  two  administrations,  during  the  years  of  1844-'o  and  '6. 
He  was  a  faithful  public  servant,  and  carried  with  him  in  office  those  work- 
ing qualities  which  formed  the  basis  of  his  success  in  business  life.  He 
was  diligent  in  advancing  the  interest  of  the  city,  and  during  his  term  of 
office,  the  city  was  lighted  with  gas,  and  the  levee,  on  which  the  com- 
mercial business  of  the  city  was  conducted,  was  properly  paved. 

Bernard  Pratte  has  filled  many  positions  of  trust ;  for  he  has  always  been 
found  worthy,  and  his  fellow-citizens  on  many  occasions  honored  him  with 
their  confidence.  In  1838  he  was  solicited  to  become  a  candidate  for  the 
General  Assembly,  and  was  elected  to  that  body.  He  has  been  president 
and  director  of  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  in  all  business  of 
finance  his  opinions  received  attention  and  respect. 

Mr.  Pratte  entered  into  matrimonial  relations  in  1824  with  Miss  Louisa 
Chenie,  daughter  of  Mr.  Anthony  Chenie,  of  St.  Louis,  and  has  a  family 
of  six  children.  He  has  been  successful  in  all  of  his  business  pursuits, 
from  a  rare  combination  of  industry  and  judgment,  and  has  gained  the 
confidence  and  respect  of  the  community,  by  at  all  times  exhibiting  a  rec- 
titude of  character,  which  never  wavered  from  the  proper  direction.  His 
age  sits  lightly  on  him,  and  his  health  gives  promise  of  many  years  of  use- 
fulness in  any  position  in  which  circumstances  might  place  him. 


HENRY  D.   BACON. 

THERE  are  some  men  whose  characters  are  so  nobly  planned  by  na- 
ture, and  so  plentifully  adorned  with  those  virtues  which  ennoble  human- 
ity, that  it  is  a  duty  and  a  pleasure  to  write  their  biographies  and  hand 
them  as  memorials  to  posterity  for  its  benefit  and  instruction. 

Henry  D.  Bacon  was  born  May  3,  1818,  at  East  Granville,  Massachu- 
setts. His  grandfather  participated  in  the  trying  scenes  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, and  made  a  part  of  that  memorable  expedition  to  Canada  under 
Arnold  and  the  lamented  Montgomery ;  holding  at  that  time  the  commis- 
sion of  captain  in  the  arrny.  His  father  was  an  intelligent  farmer,  and 
early  inculcated  among  his  children  the  love  of  integrity,  industry,  and 
charitable  feeling,  which  always  guided  his  conduct  and  marked  his  ca- 
reer. The  subject  of  this  memoir  is  one  of  eight  children,  who  are  now 
living,  and  all  well  known  and  respected  in  the  localities  where  they  re- 
side. William,  the  eldest,  lives  at  the  old  homestead ;  Sherman,  the  sec- 
ond son,  is  senior  partner  in  the  extensive  drug  business  carried  on  by. 
the  firm  of  Bacon  &  Hyde,  of  New  York,  and  which  has  a  large  branch  in 
the  city  of  St.  Louis;  and  all  of  the  sisters  are  most  respectably  married. 

For  some  time  Henry  D.  Bacon  assisted  his  father  in  his  agricultural 
pursuits,  but  feeling  that  the  sphere  of  the  farmer  was  too  circumscribed, 
and  also  wishing  to  move  to  a  place  where  he  could  have  access  to  a  good 
library,  that  he  might  improve  his  education,  which  had  not  been  as  lib- 
eral as  he  wished,  he  went  to  Hartford,  Conn.,  and  entered  a  commercial 
house,  in  which  he  remained  but  a  short  time,  and  emigrated  to  St.  Louis 
in  1835 ;  and  bearing  the  highest  testimonials  of  character  and  capacity, 
he  was  soon  engaged  as  partner  in  one  of  the  most  respectable  dry  goods 
firms  in  the  city.  He  then  entered  into  the  iron  trade,  which  he  pursued 
successfully  for  several  years,  until  his  marriage  in  1844  with  Miss  Julia 
Page,  daughter  of  Daniel  D.  Page,  when  he  became  associated  with  his 
father-in-law  in  the  flour  business. 

In  1848  the  banking  house  of  Page  &  Bacon,  afterward  so  extensively 
known,  was  organized,  which  in  a  few  years  so  won  the  confidence  of  all 
classes  of  people,  that  it  did  the  heaviest  banking  business  in  the  whole 
of  the  western  country.  A  branch  was  established  in  California  in  1850; 
and  in  1854,  the  exchanges  reached  the  almost  staggering  amount  of 
eighty  millions.  Mr.  Bacon  was  the  active  partner,  and  so  readily  and 
cordially  did  he  at  all  times  respond  to  the  wants  of  the  commercial  com- 
munity, that  to  this  day,  many  of  our  leading  citizens  feel  under  a  debt  of 
gratitude  to  him  for  his  accommodating  liberality  at  that  period. 

The  house  of  Page  &  Bacon  was  remarkable  for  its  enterprise,  and  in 
1853,  knowing  how  fraught  with  advantages  to  St.  Louis  would  be  a  direct 


HENRY     D.     BACON,     ESQ. 

(p.  133  ) 

KNOKAVKU    KXPKKSS1.Y    Fun   THIS   WORK    FROM    A    PHOTOGRAPH    BY    BKOWN. 


HENEY    D.    BACON.  135 


communication  to  the  East,  through  the  rich  American  bottom  of  Illinois, 
they  advanced  the  immense  means  necessary  for  the  building  of  the  great- 
er part  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad.  This  drew  out  an  immense 
capital  from  their  business,  and  a  pressure  shortly  after  taking  place  in 
the  money  market,  the  firm  was  compelled,  in  January,  1855,  to  suspend 
payment.  The  suspension  caused  for  a  short  period  almost  a  stagnation 
in  business,  as  the  house  was  the  financial  source  from  which  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  business  world  drew  the  elements  of  their  vitality. 

In  the  crush,  which  he  could  not  avoid,  and  which  must  have  torn  with 
anguish  his  sensitive  organization,  Mr.  Bacon  gave  way  to  no  despondency, 
to  no  selfish  grief,  but  bent  all  of  his  powers  to  complete  the  railroad, 
which  had  ever  been  one  of  his  darling  schemes,  and  which  had  to  stop  its 
operations  at  his  failure.  He  went  to  New  York,  where  he  was  well  known, 
and  induced  Eastern  capitalists  to  advance  sums  requisite  for  its  comple- 
tion. This  road,  which  now  forms  one  of  the  main  arteries  of  the  pros- 
perity of  St.  Louis,  owes  its  existence  to  his  efforts. 

We  have  now  to  speak  of  Mr.  Bacon  in  the  retired  walks  of  life,  dis- 
connected with  business  pursuits.  When  the  Mercantile  Library  was  in 
its  infancy,  and  tottering  for  the  want  of  pecuniary  assistance  to  sustain 
it,  he  came  forward  and  gave  the  required  assistance,  and  stood  its  pow- 
erful friend,  until  his  influence  gathered  other  friends  around,  and  to-day 
it  is  one  of  the  most  cherished  ornaments  and  institutions  of  our  city. 
The  members  have  not  been  guilty  of  ingratitude ;  for  they  have  graced 
the  walls  with  a  splendid  portrait  of  their  early  benefactor.  The  splendid 
building  known  as 'the  Union  Presbyterian  Church,  in  which  the  Rev. 
William  Holmes  officiated,  he  built  and  furnished,  and  donated  to  the 
church  forty  thousand  dollars  of  the  immense-  expense  he  had  incurred. 

The  Webster  College  and  the  Home  of  the  Friendless  are  beneficiaries 
of  his  bounty;  and  his  daily  charities  in  the  humble  walks  of  life  have 
relieved  a  plenitude  of  suffering. 

Perhaps  the  golden  estimation  with  which  Mr.  Bacon  is  held  by  the 
citizens  of  St.  Louis,  would  have  never  been  so  apparent,  had  he  always 
been  a  favorite  of  auspicious  fortune.  There  would  have  been  nothing 
to  call  forth  the  spontaneous  tribute  of  the  heart  in  a  disinterested  mo- 
ment ;  but  when  misfortune  lowered  upon  him,  and  the  community  knew 
how  much  he  suffered  through  his  delicate  sensibilities,  there  were  ex- 
pressions of  sympathy  from  all  classes  of  society,  and  no  enemy's  poison- 
ed breath  connected  his  name  with  dishonor,  or  rejoiced  at  his  misfortune. 
He  has  ever  been  the  friend  of  humanity,  to  science,  and  religion,  and  he 
is  looked  upon  as  the  soul  of  honor  and  human  uprightness. 


PETER    G.    CAMDEN. 

THE  parents  of  Peter  G.  Camden  occupied  a  most  respectable  position 
in  life,  and  were  residents  of  Arnherst  county,  Virginia,  where  the  subject 
of  this  memoir  was  born,  May  23d,  1801.  His  father,  William  Camden, 
and  his  mother  both  died  in  his  infancy,  and  he  was  adopted  by  his  uncle 
and  aunt. 

Peter  G.  Camden,  after  going  through  the  usual  routine  of  other 
schools,  at  the  age  of  twenty  was  sent  to  Washington  College,  Virginia, 
to  complete  his  course  of  study.  After  leaving  college,  he  entered  on  the 
study  of  the  law,  and  became  a  pupil  under  the  instruction  of  Chancellor 
Taylor,  an  eminent  jurist  of  Cumberland  county,  in  the  "  Old  Dominion." 
His  legal  education  being  completed,  with  all  the  ardor  of  the  youthful 
aspirant,  he  came  to  the  state  of  Missouri  in  1827.  At  this  time,  the 
trade  carried  on  between  St.  Louis  and  Santa  Fe  was  becoming  well  es- 
tablished, and  the  fame  of  the  beautiful  country  of  New  Mexico  was  luring 
many  enterprising  spirits  within  its  borders. 

So  well  taken  was  Mr.  Camden  with  the  reputation' of  the  country,  that 
he 'made  every  preparation  for  the  journey,  when  a  spell  of  sickness  at- 
tacked him  at  Old  Franklin,  which  made  him  forego  the  intended  project. 
He  then  returned  to  Virginia,  and,  settling  up  his  affairs,  again  started 
for  the  West,  and  became  a  resident  of  Lincoln  county,  Kentucky,  where 
he  had  an  nncle,  who  resided  in  that  portion  of  the  state.  He  married 
his  cousin,  Miss  Anna  B.  Camden,  February  16th.  1830,  and  for  the  seven 
ensuing  years  practised,  with  success,  his  profession  in  that  state. 

Mr.  Camden  had  always  been  of  the  opinion  that  Missouri,  when  her 
great  resources  would  commence  to  develop  themselves,  would  become 
one  of  the  most  populous  and  wealthy  states  in  the  Union ;  and  he  had 
always  determined,  again  to  imigrate  to  her  soil  directly  she  had  become 
a  little .  older  and  more  thickly  settled.  In  1837,  he  put  his  design  in 
execution,  and  came  to  St.  Louis,  accompanied  by  two  brothers  of  his 
wife.  Abandoning  the  profession  of  the  law,  he  established,  with  them, 
a  dry-goods  house,  and  the  firm  was  titled  J.  B.  and  M.  Camden  &  Co. 
This  continued  till  1840,  when'  Mr.  Camden  became  sole  owner  of  the 
establishment,  which  he  carried  on  for  three  years,  and  then  commenced  the 
provision  business.  In  December,  ]  858,  he  again  made  a  change  in  his 
business  relations,  and  became  a  general  commission  merchant,  and  as 
such  continues  to  this  day.  He  is  well  known  upon  '"Change,"  and  his 
house  has  the  entire  confidence  of  the  public. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Camden  was  identified  with  the  old  American  party 
and,  as  its  candidate,  became  mayor  of  the  city  in  1846.  It  was  during 
his  administration  that  the  city  issued  their  bonds  for  $25,000,  and  it  was 
used  in  purchasing  stones  to  raise  a  portion  of  the  eastern  bank  of  the 
Mississippi,  which  threatened  to  forsake  its  old  bed,  and  make  for  itself  a 


PETER    G.     CAMDEN,    ESQ., 
Late  Mayor  of  St    Louis. 

(p.   137  1 

ENGRAVED    KXPRF.88I.Y   FOR  THIS   WORK    FROM    A   PHOTOGRAPH    HY   TKOXEI. 


PETER   G.    CAMDEN.  139 


new  channel  through  the  American  bottom.  The  mavor  strongly  advo- 
cated the  measure,  for  he  did  not  wish  to  see  the  "Father  of  Waters" 
forsake  the  city  which  had  so  long  been  nurtured  by  the  commerce 
which  floated  on  its  bosom.  The  harbor  of  St.  Louis  was  also  consider- 
ably improved  during  his  term  of  office;  it  was  owing  to  his  efforts,  while 
chief  municipal  officer,  that  gas  was  introduced  as  an  agent  for  lighting 
up  the  streets.  His  administration  was  popular,  and  order  was  main- 
tained in  the  most  efficient  manner. 

Mr.  Carnden  was  one  of  the  first  directors  in  the  Marine  Insurance 
Company  after  its  reorganization,  and  for  many  years  has  been  a  member 
of  the  Baptist  Church. 

Peter  G.  Camden  possesses  all  the  frankness  of  manner,  cordiality  of 
feeling,  and  hospitable  disposition  so  characteristic  of  the  true  Virginian. 
He  necessarily  has  become  popular  in  St.  Louis,  and  can  number  as  his 
friends  many  of  the  most  influential  citizens.  He  has  passed  through 
many  phases  of  private  and  public  life  without  reproach,  and  in  the  even- 
ing of  his  life,  a  retrospect  of  the  past  must  be  associated  with  the  most 
pleasing  reminiscences. 


ROBERT  M,  FUNKHOUSER. 

THE  biography  of  such  a  man  as  Robert  M.  Funkhouser  is  fraught 
not  only  with  a  readable  interest,  but  has  a  useful  moral  effect  upon 
the  present  time  and  posterity.  It  teaches  youth,  what  industry  and 
moral  worth  can  achieve  ;  and  that  they  can  hope  for  all  things  if  they 
make  honor  their  guide,  and  are  prompted  by  honorable  emulation. 

The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born  at  Equality,  Gallatin  county,  Illinois, 
March  31,  1819.  His  father,  Robert  R.  Funkhouser,  was  a  native  of 
Greenbrier  county,  Virginia,  and  his  mother  was  the  daughter  of  Z.  Cross, 
who  served  during  the  Revolution,  and  was  a  relation  of  Colonel  Cross, 
of  Revolutionary  memory.  The  father  removed  from  Virginia  to  Kentucky 
at  an  early  day,  and  believing  that  Illinois  offered  greater  inducements  he 
emigrated  to  that  country,  and  soon  after  was  elected  to  the  legislature, 
where  his  sterling  good  sense  made  him  an  efficient  member.  He  had  a 
large  family  of  children,  nine  in  number,  of  whom  five  are  now  living. 

The  early  days  of  the  subject  of  this  biography  were  partially  spent  at 
school,  but  directly  he  became  of  size  sufficient  to  make  his  labor  avail- 
able on  the  farm,  he  assisted  his  father  in  his  agricultural  pursuits,  and  on 
his  demise  in  1833,  rented  the  farm,  and  by  strenuous  efforts  made  money 
sufficient  to  spend  some  time  profitably  at  school,  and  then  engaged  with 
his  uncle,  until  he  was  offered  the  situation  of  supercargo,  in  a  trip  to 
New  Orleans,  and  did  his  business  most  satisfactorily  to  his  employer,  who 
was  his  brother-in-law.  For  some  time  he  pursued  a  rambling,  irregular 
life,  and  was  unsettled  as  to  what  was  the  best  vocation  for  him  to  pursue. 
On  his  return  home,  he  was  invited  by  an  uncle,  who  resided  on  the 
National  Road,  at  a  place  called  Ervington,  and  there  for  some  four 
months  he  kept  school,  and  saved  from  the  proceeds  seventy-five  dollars. 
He  then  went  to  Alton,  where  he  had  a  friend  in  the  banking  business, 
who  told  him  that  the  little  town  was  thronged  with  enterprising  young 
men  anxious  for  situations.  Acting  with  that  decision  which  is  one  of  the 
chief  elements  of  his  character,  he  leaped  on  a  boat  that  was  about  leaving 
the  wharf  for  St.  Louis. 

Mr.  Funkhouser,  while  on  the  boat,  made  the  acquaintance  of  Mr. 
Sparr,  of  the  Virginia  Hotel,  and  stopped  at  his  house.  This  was  in 
April,  1840,  and  his  entire  capital  did  not  exceed  fifty  dollars.  The 
second  night  after  his  arrival,  in  wandering  through  the  streets,  he  was 
attracted  by  an  auction  sale,  and  seeing  looking-glasses  selling  at  what 
he  considered  dirt-cheap,  he  purchased  four  dozen,  which  he  commenced 
to  retail  through  the  city.  Whilst  crying  out  his  looking-glasses,  he  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  Mr.  T.  R.  Selmes,  with  whom  he  engaged  as  clerk, 
at  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  year  and  board.  He  continued  two 
years  as  clerk  before  commencing  business  for  himself.  Some  time  after- 


ROBERT    M      FUNKHOUSER,     ESQ., 
Prenident  of  the  Cliamber  of  Commerce 

(p.  141.1 

KVGRAVKD   EXPRESSLY    FOR  THIS   WORK    FROM    A   PHOTOGRAPH    BY   BROWN. 


EGBERT   M.    FUNKHOUSEB.  143 

ward,  he  commenced  a  dry-goods  business  with  Mr.  Mattox,  on  a  small 
scale,  which  he  subsequently  carried  on  himself,  and  made  it  lucrative. 
He  continued  this  for  four  or  five  years,  and  this  may  be  said  to  be  the 
commencement  of  the  large  fortune  he  has  since  amassed. 

Amid  the  political  agitation  to  which  Missouri  has  been  subjected,  and 
drawn  so  many  into  its  wild  and  unhealthful  excitement,  Mr.  Funk- 
houser  was  never  allured  from  his  business,  to  take  part  in  the  factional 
disputes.  His  business  engrossed  all  of  his  time,  and  its  extensive  opera- 
tions required  all  of  his  watchfulness. 

In  April,  1848,  Mr.  Funkhouser  married  Miss  Selmes,  daughter  of 
the  Mr.  Selmes  who  first  took  him  in  his  employ,  when  he  was  a  young 
vender  of  looking-glasses.  It  may  be  proper  here  to  observe,  that  Mr. 
Selmes  is  still  living,  and  is  a  wealthy  and  influential  citizen  of  Hannibal, 
Missouri. 

As  a  business  man  Mr.  Funkhouser  has  but  few  equals,  and  the  suc- 
cess which  he  has  met  with,  is  the  best  criterion  of  his  business  excellence ; 
as  a  man  of  integrity  the  following  responsible  positions  which  he  holds 
are  testimonials  of  the  regard  of  the  community.  He  is  a  director  in  the 
Southern  Bank  ;  in  the  Millers'  and  Manufacturers'  Insurance  Company  ; 
in  the  Western  Wrecking  Company ;  of  the  Heal  Estate  Saving  Associa- 
tion ;  and  is  President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  Vice-President 
of  the  Building  and  Saving  Association.  He  has  been  for  years  connect- 
ed with  the  Fire  Department,  and  has  done  much  to  bring  it  to  its  pres- 
ent state  of  efficient  usefulness.  He  is  still  young,  and  is  in  the  very 
prime  of  physical  vigor  and  matured  experience.  He  can  enjoy  the  fruit 
of  the  seed  he  has  sown,  whilst  his  nature  is  susceptible  of  enjoyment,  and 
the  stamina  of  life  have  not  weakened  and  decayed.  He  has  all  the  ele- 
ments of  happiness  within  his  reach,  and  they  are  of  his  own  creation. 


DR.    M.    L.    LINTON. 

THIS  eminent  physician  was  born  in  Nelson  county,  Kentucky,  April 
12th,  1808.  His  father  was  a  respectable  farmer,  who  had  im migrated  to 
Kentucky  from  Loudon  county,  Virginia.  Young  Linton  was  raised  as 
the  sons  of  industrious  farmers  are  usually  raised  in  Virginia  and  Ken- 
tucky, by  going  to  school  and  occasionally  working  upon  the  farm;  but 
the  schools  in  which  it  was  his  fortune  to  become  the  inmate  were  of  a 
very  inferior  quality.  However,  there  was  a  grammar-school  establish- 
ed in  his  neighborhood,  to  which  he  went  for  a  few  weeks,  and  learned 
effectual ly  the  principles  of  the  English  language. 

A  little  circumstance  will  often  give  a  direction  to  the  life  of  an  in- 
dividual, and  turn  the  thoughts  into  channels  for  which  they  have  a 
natural  affinity,  and  from  which  they  never  after  depart.  A  physician 
dwelt  in  the  house  of  young  Linton's  father,  and  the  young  boy,  anxious 
to  glean  knowledge  from  every  source,  would  read  the  medical  books  thus 
accidentally  thrown  in  his  way,  and  at  once  evinced  a  strong  inclination 
to  become  master  of  their  contents.  This  influenced  him  in  the  choice 
of  his  profession,  and,  on  arriving  at  the  age  of  manhood,  he  went  to 
Springfield,  and  studied  medicine  under  the  instruction  of  Dr.  J.  H. 
Polin.  With  him  he  remained  two  years,  with  great  benefit,  and  pos- 
sessing rare  advantages ;  for  Dr.  Polin  was  at  once  biased  in  his  favor, 
and  not  only  carefully  gave  him  the  instruction  necessary  for  his  profes- 
sion, but,  being  an  accomplished  scholar,  instructed  him  in  the  Latin  and 
Greek  languages,  and  other  branches  which  had  before  been  neglected, 
and  which  are  so  essential  to  the  education  of  the  physician  and  the 
gentleman.  After  leaving  Dr.  Polin,  he  graduated  at  Transylvania  College, 
Lexington,  and  commenced  practice  in  Hancock  county,  where  he  re- 
mained for  two  years,  and  then  went  to  Springfield,  where  he  entered  into 
partnership  with  his  former  friend  and  instructor,  Dr.  Polin.  In  1839 
Dr.  Linton  went  to  Europe  for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing  himself  still 
more  in  his  profession,  by  visiting  the  various  hospitals  and  institutions 
with  which  that  country  abounds.  He  passed  one  year  abroad  ;  a  portion 
of  the  time  was  agreeably  spent  in  the  company  of  Dr.  Charles  A.  Pope, 
whom  he  fortunately  encountered  in  Paris. 

On  Dr.  Linton's  return  to  the  United  States,  he  was  invited  to  take  a 
professor's  chair  in  the  medical  department  of  the  St.  Louis  University, 
which  he  still  occupies. 

Dr.  Linton  married  Miss  Anna  Rachel  Booker,  daughter  of  Judge 
Booker  of  Kentucky.  He  has  never  strayed  from  the  orbit  of  his  pro- 
fession, and  has  been  untiring  in  his  devotion  to  the  pursuit  he  has  chosen. 
He  established  the  St.  Louis  Medical  Journal  in  1843,  which  has  always 
been  edited  with  great  ability,  and  has  the  entire  confidence  of  the 
profession.  Dr.  McPheeters  is  associated  with  him  in  the  editorial 
charge  of  the  journal.  Dr.  Linton  has  contributed  many  ably-written 
treatises  on  medical  subjects,  and  is  the  author  of  a  volume  called  the 
"Outlines  of  Pathology,"  which,  by  its  simple  and  lucid  arrangement, 
was  not  only  suitable  as  a  text-book  for  the  student,  but  for  general  in- 
struction. He  has  the  confidence  of  the  public,  a  most  extensive  practice, 
and  is  the  president  of  the  Medical  Society  of  St.  Louis. 


DR.    M.    L.     LINTON. 

(p.  1431 
ENGRAVE:)  EXPRESSLY  FOR  THIS  WORK  FROM  A  PHOTOGRAPH  r,v  BROWN. 


HON.    JAMES    S . GREEN. 

(p.  147.1 

XVORAVKD    KXPKK8SI.Y    KftR   THIS   WORK    FROM   A  PHOTOGRAPH    BY    BROWN. 


HON.   JAMES    S.  GREEN. 

VIRGINIA  has  ever  been  prolific  in  giving  birth  to  eminent  men,  and  the 
subject  of  this  memoir  was  born  near  Recto rtown,  Fauquier  county,  in  the 
year  1817.  From  a  boy  he  sedulously  devoted  himself  to  the  cultivation 
of.  his  intellect,  and  the  few  advantages  which  he  possessed  he  embraced 
to  the  utmost.  He  did  not  receive  the  collegiate  finish  of  an  education; 
but  his  own  application  to  the  advancement  of  his  mind  supplied  every 
deficiency,  and  when  he  grew  to  manhood,  there  were  few  who  possessed 
his  fund  of  information. 

James  S.  Green  was  of  an  aspiring  disposition,  and,  at  the  age  of  nine- 
teen he  determined  to  leave  the  precincts  of  the  "  Old  Dominion,"  and 
seek  his  fortune  in  a  clime  where  the  business  current  was  not  so  stagnant, 
and  his  efforts  for  future  distinction  more  certain  of  accomplishment. 
He  went  first  to  Alabama,  and  after  a  short  sojourn,  he  ascended  the 
Mississippi,  on  a  visit  of  observation  to  Missouri.  This  was  in  1847. 
The  visit  was  perfectly  satisfactory,  for  that  state  has  ever  since  been  his 
home.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1840,  and,  being  qualified  in  his 
profession,  and  possessing  that  suavity  of  manner  so  natural  to  the  Vir- 
ginian, he  soon  obtained  a  lucrative  practice. 

Feeling  conscious  of  superior  abilities,  and  anxious  for  distinction,  he 
entered  the  political  arena  as  champion  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  in 
1844,  was  a  Democratic  presidential  elector  for  Missouri.  It  was  at  this 
time  that  his  star  commenced  to  rise  in  the  political  firmament,  and  the 
people  of  Missouri  became  convinced,  by  the  talents  which  he  displayed 
in  the  campaign,  that  he  would  at  a  future  time  become  one  of  the  guid- 
ing lights  of  the  Democratic  party.  He  was  appointed  in  1845  one  of 
the  framcrs  of  the  present  constitution  of  Missouri,  an  appointment  signifi- 
cant of  the  highest  trust,  and  which  was  shared  by  the  most  talented 
citizens  of  the  state. 

In  1 846,  Mr.  Green  was  elected  to  Congress.  His  advent  in  the  White 
House  was  at  a  time  it  was  rife  with  excitement  and  agitated  by  a  storm 
of  political  debate.  It  was  when  the  troops  of  the  United  States  were 
reaping  their  laurels  at  Resaca  de  la  Pahna,  at  Buena  Vista,  and  other 
battle-fields  in  Mexico.  The  party  opposed  to  the  administration  tried 
to  bring  it  into  disfavor,  because  it  took  measures  to  chastise  a  country 
that  had  been  insultingly  encroaching  on  our  national  rights  since  the 
Texas  annexation.  Mr.  Green  defended  the  policy  of  Mr.  Polk  with  that 
lucidness  and  strength  of  argument  which  are  characteristic  of  his  oratory, 
and  from  that  time  he  was  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  leading  spirits  of 
the  Democratic  party,  and  was  regarded  with  respect  by  his  opponents. 

In  1848,  he  was  elected  to  serve  another  term  in  the  national  Con- 
gress, and,  the  great  boundary  question  between  Missouri  and  Iowa  com- 


150  HON.  JAMES   6.  GREEK. 


ing  up  at  that  time  for  argument,  the  governor  of  Missouri1  paid  the 
young  representative  a  high  compliment  by  appointing  him  to  defend  the 
rights  of  the  state.  His  effort  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  was  worthy  of  the  subject  and  the  expectation  of  admiring  friends. 
His  constituents  were  so  well  satisfied  with  him  during  his  representative 
capacity,  that  they  nominated  him  for  a  third  term,  as  possessing  the 
greatest  weight  of  political  influence  that  could  be  brought  to  bear 
against  the  powerful  odds  that  were  a'rrayed  against  that  part  of  the 
Democratic  party  which  had  remained  true  to  the  creed  of  its  political 
faith ;  many  having  apostatized  through  the  influence  of  Colonel  Ben- 
ton,  thereby  cutting  up  and  weakening  the  party.  He  was  defeated  in 
the  election  of  1850,  but,  in  1853,,  was  appointed  minister  to  New  Gren- 
ada. In  1854,  he  resigned  this  appointment,  and  returned  to  Missouri, 
and  practised  his  profession  till  1856,  when  he  was  again  elected  to 
Congress,  but,  prior  to  taking  his  seat,  the  legislature  of  Missouri,  know- 
ing his  ability  and  confident  in  his  honor,  elected  him  to  the  United  States 
Senate,  and  he  resigned  his  claim  to  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. 

Immediately  on  taking  his  seat  in  the  august  body  to  which  he  had 
been  elected,  Mr.  Green  entered  warmly  into  the  debate  at  that  time 
taking  place  on  the  Lecompton  Constitution.  He  supported  the  position 
of  Mr.  Buchanan  in  a  speech  so  effective  in  argument  and  perspicuous  in 
its  style,  that  it  called  forth  the  commendations  of  the  whole  Union,  and 
perplexed  the  designs  of  the  talented  but  factious  spirits  who  had  arrayed 
themselves  against  the  acts  of  the  administration. 

As  a  speaker,  Mr.  Green  has  not  that  fault  so  characteristic  of  politi- 
cians, of  speaking  for  sensation  effect.  He  never  rises  to  his  feet  on  any 
occasion  until  he  is  master  of  his  subject.  His  eloquence  is  of  the 
argumentative  order,  displaying  facts  in  their  natural  attire,  without  try- 
ing to  array  them  in  rhetorical  beauties  that  might  make  them  please  the 
imagination,  but  weaken  their  effect.  One  of  the  effective  attributes  of 
his  popularity  is  the  purity  of  his  character.  It  is  this  which  has  given 
him  the  esteem  of  all  men  and  the  unbounded  confidence  of  his  consti- 
tuents. He  will  leave  as  a  heritage  to  his  children,  wealth,  honor,  and 
position — and  all  has  been  his  own  work. 


HON.     LUTHER     M.    KENNETT. 

(1..  151.) 

KMORAVEI.   EXPRESSLY   FOR  THIS   WORK   FROM    A    PHOTOGRAPH    BY    BROWN. 


HON.  LUTHER  M.  KEMETT. 

LUTHER  M.  KKNNETT  was  born  at  Falmouth,  Pendleton  county,  Ken- 
tucky, March  loth,  1807.  His  father,  Press  Graves  Kennett,  was  a  respect- 
able and  influential  citizen  of  Falmouth,  holding  for  many  years  the  office 
of  clerk  of  Pendleton  county  and  Circuit  Court,  and  was  likewise  pres- 
ident of  the  Falmouth  Branch  of  Commonwealth  Bank.  He  was  a  man 
of  fine  information,  and  consequently  was  anxious  that  all  of  the  avenues 
of  education  should  be  opened  to  his  children. 

Luther  M.  Kennett,  after  receiving  a  good  English  education  and  some 
knowledge  of  Latin,  from  the  most  respectable  seminaries  of  learning,  was 
sent  to  Georgetown,  Kentucky,  where  he  remained  for  two  years,  under 
the  instruction  of  the  Rev.  Barton  W.  Stone,  a  distinguished  Baptist  divine, 
who  was  a  profound  scholar,  and  faithful  in  his  duties  of  instructor,  both 
in  a  pastoral  and  secular  capacity.  He  boarded  in  the  family  of  that 
gentleman,  and  became  a  good  Latin  scholar,  and  was  making  a  fair  prog- 
ress in  the  Greek  and  French,  when  his  father,  meeting  with  reverses,  he 
was  taken  from  school,  at  fifteen  years  of  age,  and,  at  once,  had  to  seek  a 
situation,  that  he  might  do  something  toward  his  livelihood.  He  obtained 
a  situation  as  deputy-clerk  of  the  county  court  of  his  native  place,  where 
he  remained  for  eighteen  months,  with  his  uncle,  Wm.  C.  Kennett,  who 
then  had  charge  of  the  clerk's  office,  and,  at  the  invitation  of  General 
James  Taylor,  of  Newport,  who  was  clerk  of  Campbell  county,  he  removed 
to  that  county,  and  performed  the  duties  of  deputy-clerk,  and  devoted 
his  leisure  hours  to  the  reading  of  law.  In  1825,  when  he  was  eighteen 
years  of  age,  animated  by  that  feverish  desire  of  change  of  place,  so  often 
an  attendant  upon  young  ambition,  he  came  to  St.  Louis,  then  insignif- 
icant in  size,  resolving  to  prosecute  the  study  of  the  law,  which  he  had 
pursued  during  some  interims  of  leisure,  and  for  which  he  had  formed  a 
predilection.  To  carry  out  this  design,  it  was  necessary  that  he  should 
make  some  business  arrangement  by  which  he  could  live  while  complet- 
ing his  studies;  and,  not  being  able  to  effect  this  double  object,  he  en- 
faged  in  a  store,  as  clerk,  and  after  a  short  time  he  went  to  Farmington, 
t.  Francis  county,  and  served  in  the  same  capacity.  From  Farmington 
he  went  to  Selma,  Jefferson  county,  now  the  residence  of  his  brother, 
Colonel  F.  Kennett,  where  he  became  acquainted  with  Captain  James  M. 
White,  a  merchant  of  St.  Louis,  and  nephew  of  Hon.  Hugh  Lawson 
Whitej  of  Tennessee,  with  whom  he  formed  a  copartnership,  and  with 
whom  he  continued  fifteen  years.  This  connection  in  business  pursuits 
proved  very  fortunate  to  Mr.  Kennett,  and  he  amassed  an  ample  fortune. 
His  success  was  not  accidental ;  it  was  the  fruit  of  his  energy,  integrity 
and  business  capacity.  His  connection  with  Mr.  White  continued  for 
many  years,  and  resulted  in  a  mutual  and  permanent  friendship  which 
subsisted  until  the  death  of  Mr.  White. 

In  1832,  Mr.  Kennett  was  married  to  Miss  Boyce,  who  survived  her 
marriage  but  three  years,  leaving  a  daughter,  who  is  now  the  wife  of 
Benjamin  O'Farrar,  of  St.  Louis  county  ;  and  in  1842,  having  returned 
5 


154:  HON.    LUTHER   M.    KENNETT. 

to  St.  Louis  from  the  mining  region,  he  was  elected  alderman  of  the 
fourth  ward,  and  served  three  years.  He  was  again  elected,  in  1846, 
but  shortly  afterward  resigned,  to  make  a  tour  to  Europe  to  benefit  his 
health,  and  to  witness  the  luxuriant  growth  of  science  and  art  in  that 
nursery  of  civilization. 

Mr.  Kennett  had  returned  but  a  short  time  from  his  continental  tour, 
when  St.  Louis  was  visited  by  that  dangerous  malady,  the  Asiatic  cholera, 
which  has  proved  such  a  scourge  to  many  of  the  cities  and  towns  of  the 
Union.  At  this  visitation — the  ever-remembered  year  of  1849 — St.  Louis 
presented  the  spectacle  of  a  charnel-house,  so  awful  were  the  ravages  of 
that  dreadful  disease.  In  vain  skilful  physicians,  for  a  time,  would  stem 
its  progress;  some  boat  from  the  south,  freighted  with  the  pestilence,  would 
arrive  at  the  wharf,  and  again  it  would  spread  over  the  city.  The  citizens 
were  determined  on  establishing  a  quarantine,  and  Mr.  Kennett  was  on 
the  committee  of  twelve  appointed  to  select  the  location,  and  carry  out 
the  wishes  of  the  people.  The  very  day  of  his  appointment,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  his  colleagues,  he  took  boat  to  put  the  design  in  execution. 
That  year  he  served  as  chairman  of  the  committee  who  got  up  the  Pacific 
Railroad  Convention  at  St.  Louis,  and  was  vice-president  of  the  company 
which  was  organized  to  commence  the  work.  In  the  next  year,  1850, 
being  elected  mayor  of  the  city,  he  removed  the  first  shovelful  of  earth, 
as  a  commencement  of  the  great  railroad,  which,  in  time,  will  become  one 
of  the  main  arteries  of  the  Union. 

When  mayor,  Mr.  Kennett  was  indefatigable  in  his  exertions  for  the 
welfare  of  the  city.  He  looked  upon  the  health  of  the  city  as  a  blessing 
that  could  not  be  measured  by  dollars  and  cents.  He  was  an  advocate  of, 
and  efficiently  adopted  the  practice  of  extensive  sewerage,  that  St.  Louis 
might  be  drained  of  its  impurities ;  and  his  efforts  in  that  particular  will 
long  be  remembered  gratefully  by  the  well-thinking  portion  of  our  citizens. 
He  served  two  terms  as  mayor. 

In  1853,  he  was  elected  president  of  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad,  and, 
as  vice-president  of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  delivered  the  address,  on  open- 
ing the  first  division  of  thirty-seven  miles  for  travel.  He  was  candidate 
for  the  Thirty-Fourth  Congress,  in  1854,  and,  on  being  elected  to  the 
national  council  of  his  country,  proved  himself  an  exemplary  and  efficient 
member. 

Whilst  a  member  of  Congress,  Mr.  Kennett,  being  a  member  of  the 
Committee  on  Commerce,  contributed  much  to  secure  the  appropriations 
made  for  the  Mississippi  Rapids,  and  also  to  procure  the  right  of  way 
from  the  general  government  through  the  grounds  of  the  arsenal  and  Jef- 
ferson Barracks,  for  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad. 

Mr.  Kennett  now  resides  at  his  fine  country  residence,  appropriately 
called  Fair  View,  in  St.  Louis  county,  happy  in  the  pure  enjoyment  of 
the  domestic  circle.  He  has  six  children  by  his  last  marriage.  He  mar- 
ried Miss  Agnes  A.  Kennett,  danghter  of  the  late  Dixon  H.  Kennett,  in 
the  spring  of  1842,  who  was  his  cousin,  and  now  occupies  a  more  en- 
dearing relation. 

He  was  friendless  and  almost  penniless  when  he  came  to  St.  Louis,  and 
now  he  is  in  possession  of  friends,  affluence,  and  position,  and  owes  this 
possession  to  his  honorable  exertions  and  high  moral  attributes. 


SAMUEL    B.    WIGGINS,    ESQ. 

(p.  155.1 
n  EXPRESSLY  For.  TUTS  WORK  FROM  A  PHOTOGRAPH  JSY  TROXEI. 


SAMUEL   B.  WIGGINS. 

SAMUEL  B.  WIGGINS  was  born  December  llth,  1814,  in  Charleston,  S.  C. 
His  uncle,  Samuel  Wiggins,  now  of  Cincinnati,  in  the  year  1817,  estab- 
lished a  horse  ferry  across  the  Mississippi  River,  which  proved  to  be  very 
lucrative.  In  1823,  this  uncle  was  joined  by  William  C.  Wiggins,  the 
father  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  who  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1818.  In 
1828,  there  was  an  improvement  made  in  the  ferry  arrangement.  The 
proprietors  were  men  of  judgment  and  enterprise,  and  could  see  in  the 
future  the  magnitude  of  the  infant  city.  The  horse  of  flesh  and  blood 
was  thrown  aside,  and  the  iron  horse,  with  his  unyielding  sinews,  was  sub- 
stituted, to  force  the  ferry-boat  across  the  swift  current  of  the  "  Father  of 
Waters."  The  ferry  became  incorporated  in  1832,  and  is  known  as 
Wiggins's  Ferry  Company. 

Samuel  B.  Wiggins,  who  heads  this  article,  first  commenced  business  in 
the  state  of  Illinois,  where  he  was  clerk  for  Mr.  S.  C.  Christy,  but  finding 
little  to  encourage  a  residence  in  that  state,  he,  as  well  as  Mr.  Christy, 
came  to  St.  Louis,  and  commenced  business  as  Christy  &  Wiggins,  which 
was  carried  on  for  some  time,  and  Mr.  Christy  retiring,  Mr.  Wiggins  re- 
mained alone  until  he  took  his  brother  into  partnership,  and  the  new  firm 
was  known  as  S.  B.  Wiggins  &  Co.  After  a  continuance  of  some  time, 
the  firm  was  again  changed  to  Wiggins  &  Anderson,  a  well-known  grocery 
and  dry  goods  firm,  which  dissolved  in  1859. 

Mr.  Wiggins  was  married  to  Miss  Wilson,  of  Philadelphia,  May  31st, 
1838.  He  has  been  the  architect  of  his  own  fortune.  He  has  always 
followed  the  golden  maxim,  "  Attend  to  your  business  and  it  will  attend 
to  you."  As  far  as  worldly  wealth  is  concerned,  he  has  accomplished  a 
sufficiency,  and  is  now  retired.  In  review  of  his  life,  he  does  not  have 
to  mourn  over  an  ill-spent  youth,  but  can  look  upon  the  past  and  derive 
pleasure  from  the  retrospect.  He  is  extensively  known  in  St.  Louis,  and 
has  won  golden  opinions  from  all  men.  He  has  filled  many  important 
positions  in  business  life,  and  is  now  a  director  in  the  Southern  Bank,  also 
in  the  Pacific  Insurance  Company,  and  was  for  fifteen  years  a  director  in 
the  Citizens'  Insurance  Company.  His  life  is  a  bright  example  to  the 
living  and  to  posterity. 


REV.   JOHN    HOGAN, 

POSTMASTER    OF    ST.   LOUIS. 

JOHN  HOOAN  was  born  January  2d,  1805,  in  Mallow,  county  of  Cork, 
Ireland.  His  parents,  Thomas  and  Mary  Hogan,  without  being  wealthy, 
were  in  comfortable  circumstances  by  their  own  industry,  the  father  pur- 
suing the  avocation  of  a  baker,  and  doing  an  extensive  business.  He  had 
some  relatives  residing  in  the  United  States,  and,  from  the  favorable  state- 
ments he  received  from  them,  and  at  their  earnest  solicitation,  he  sailed, 
in  1817,  for  America,  and,  on  landing  at  Norfolk,  immediately  proceeded 
from  thence  to  Baltimore,  where  his  friends  resided.  The  hopes  of  Mr. 
Hogan,  from  continual  communications,  had  been  highly  elevated.  He 
had  formed  extravagant  expectations  of  the  country  across  the  Atlantic. 
He  gave  up  his  home,  abandoned  business,  parted  with  friends,  and  sun- 
dered a  thousand  ties  which  naturally  cluster  around  a  person  during 
years  of  residence  in  a  place.  Thus,  when  he  looked  upon  the  country 
which  was  to  be  the  future  home  of  his  family,  he  was  sadly  disappointed 
in  his  expectations ;  and  then  a  deep  melancholy  seized  upon  him,  and  he 
died  from  grief. 

The  situation  of  the  family  at  this  juncture  was  a  distressing  one — they 
were  deprived  of  their  natural  protector  and  left  in  destitute  circumstances. 
It  was  necessary  to  make  some  provision  for  the  children,  and  John,  who 
was  the  eldest,  was  apprenticed  to  a  shoemaker,  by  the  name  of  James 
Hance,  father  of  the  present  Seth  C.  Hance,  a  well-known  and  extensive 
druggist  in  the  city  of  Baltimore. 

The  elements  which  form  the  leading  principles  in  the  character  of  an 
individual,  will  make  an  effort  to  develop  themselves  under  all  circum- 
stances; and  John  Hogan's  anxiety  for  knowledge  was  evinced  by  the 
means  to  which  he  resorted  to  attain  it.  With  some  little  assistance  from 
his  fellow  workmen,  he  learned  his  letters,  and  then  to  read,  from  copies 
of  the  Federal  Gazette,  a  popular  journal  at  that  time,  and  printed  in 
large  type.  He  also  attended  regularly  the  Sunday-schools,  where  he 
garnered  both  mental  and  moral  instruction,  and  feeling  the  force  of  relig- 
ious influences,  became  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at 
sixteen  years  of  age. 

After  completing  his  term  of  indenture,  he  commenced  preaching  the 
gospel,  and  was  sent  by  the  Conference  of  his  church,  as  an  itinerant 
preacher,  to  the  West.  He  joined  the  Illinois  Conference,  and  traveled 
much  through  that  state  and  Indiana.  After  spending  some  time  in  this 
preaching  pilgrimage,  he  applied  to  the  Conference  for  a  location,  and 
subsequently  united  himself  in  wedlock  to  Miss  Mary  M.  West,  of  St. 
Clair  county,  Illinois.  His  application  was  finally  granted,  and  Mr. 


JOHN    HOGAN,    ESQ., 

Postmaster  of  St.  Louis. 

(p.  159.) 

ENGRAVED   EXPRESSLY   FOR  THIS   WORK   FROM    A    PHOTOGRAPH. 


REV.  JOHN   HOGAN.  161 


Hogan  opened  a  store  at  Edwardsville,  Illinois.  He  remained  in  Ed- 
wafdsville  until  1833,  and  then  located  himself  at  Alton,  and,  whilst 
there,  was  elected  to  the  Illinois  legislature.  In  1837,  he  succumbed,  as 
most  others  did,  to  the  financial  revulsion  of  that  period,  having  endorsed 
largely. 

Whilst  a  citizen  of  Illinois  Mr.  Hogan  largely  enjoyed  the  confidence 
of  the  community,  and  filled,  very  efficiently,  several  important  offices. 
He  was  commissioner  of  public  works  for  two  years,  and  was  appointed, 
in  1841,  by  General  Harrison,  register  of  the  land  office  in  Dixon,  of 
that  state.  These  appointments  were  very  satisfactory  to  the  people,  and 
he  filled  them  in  the  most  creditable  manner. 

In  1845,  Mr.  Hogan  lost  his  wife,  and  he  determined  to  remove  from 
the  scenes  which  would  continually  remind  him  of  his  domestic  affliction, 
and  went  to  St.  Louis  the  same  year,  and  became  salesman  in  the  large 
grocery  establishment  of  Edward  J.  Gay  &  Co.  He  continued  in  this 
house  for  several  years,  first  as  salesman,  and  then  as  partner.  He  then 
retired  from  commercial  pursuits,  and,  in  1850,  became  agent  for  the  Mis- 
souri State  Mutual  Insurance  Company,  where  he  continued  five  years ; 
and  it  was  during  that  period  a  series  of  articles  appeared  in  the  Missouri 
Republican,  styled,  "  Thoughts  on  St.  Louis,"  which  were  read  with  avid- 
ity by  the  community,  and  excited  a  general  interest.  The  author  who 
had  displayed  in  such  an  attractive  manner  the  commercial  and  manu- 
facturing business  of  the  city,  could  not  remain  incognito,  and  the  mer- 
chants of  the  city  presented  Mr.  Hogan  with  a  beautiful  service  of  silver, 
as  a  testimonial  of  their  appreciation  of  his  literary  efforts,  which  had  given 
the  public  an  insight  into  the  manufacturing  and  commercial  world  of  St. 
Louis.  In  1858,  he  was  appointed  postmaster  of  St.  Louis,  under  the 
administration  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  which  office  he  still  holds. 

Mr.  Hogan  has  filled  many  positions  of  trust  in  St.  Louis.  He  was 
president  of  the  Dollar  Saving  Institution,  now  Exchange  Bank,  and  was 
then  a  director ;  and,  from  the  high  order  of  his  business  capacities,  he 
could  have  been  connected  with  many  corporations,  but  his  time,  absorbed 
by  other  pursuits,  forbade  too  many  connections  of  this  kind.  As  a  poli- 
tician, he  is  well  known  as  an  able  champion  of  the  Democratic  party,  firm 
and  fearless  in  the  expression  of  his  principles,  but  never  indulging  in  the 
wholesale  vituperation  which  ever  marks  the  character  of  the  blustering 
demagogue.  As  an  author,  he  is  well  and  favorably  known,  and  has  won 
"  golden  opinions,"  not  only  from  the  work  which  we  have  befo^  men- 
tioned— "  Thoughts  on  the  City  of  St.  Louis" — but  also  from  being  the 
author  of  the  "  History  of  Methodism  in  the  West,"  and  of  a  little  pam- 
phlet, titled  "  The  Resources  of  Missouri."  His  style  is  terse,  clear,  and 
spirited,  and  characterized  with  an  originality  that  is  refreshing,  in  these 
days  of  literary  productions — "  Nothing  new  under  the  sun." 

Mr.  Hogan  was  married  the  second  time,  in  1847,  to  Miss  Harriett 
Gamier,  daughter  of  Joseph  V.  Gamier,  of  St.  Louis.  He  has  always 
been  connected  with  the  Methodist  persuasion,  and  is  now  a  trustee  and 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Centenary  Church  of  this  city. 


THE    ST.   LOUIS   PRESS. 


THERE  are  few  cities  in  the  Union,  with  the  same  population,  which  can 
boast  of  journals  of  a  higher  order  than  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  They  are 
all  ably  edited,  and  none  of  them  but  have  a  respectable  circulation.  We 
will  give  a  list  of  them  all,  with  the  names  of  the  respective  editors. 
There  will  be  a  slight  historical  sketch  of  the  most  prominent,  and  accom- 
panying the  whole  will  be  found  the  photographs  and  biographies  of  those 
gentlemen  who  most  effectually  represent  the  St.  Louis  press.  We  would 
gladly  have  inserted  some  other  photographs  and  biographies  of  the 
talented  gentlemen  who  represent  the  other  journals,  but  this  work  has 
swelled  into  a  magnitude  little  contemplated  at  its  commencement. 

The  people  of  St.  Louis  are  emphatically  a  reading  people,  and  are 
sensibly  aware  of  the  colossal  influence  over  all  business  pursuits  which  a 
generous  support  of  newspapers  always  produces ;  and  it  is  one  of  the 
most  infallible  signs  of  the  business  extent  and  success  in  St.  Louis  to  see 
her  journals  thus  handsomely  supported. 

The  Missouri  Republican. 

The  Missouri  Republican  is  the  oldest  newspaper  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley,  and,  with  but  two  exceptions,  is  the  largest  sheet  in  the 
Union.  It  was  established  in  July,  1808,  in  a  small  room  in  a  one-story 
building,  under  the  name  of  the  Missouri  Gazette,  and  the  man  who  set 
up  the  type  for  the  first  issue  is  still  living  in  the  state  of  Indiana,  by  the 
name  of  Hincle.  He  has  been  recently  in  St.  Louis,  and  called  to  see 
the  establishment  of  the  journal  that  many  years  ago  was  no  larger  in 
dimensions  than  a  quarto  page.  The  paper  has  undergone  many  changes 
since  that  time.  The  little  one-story  house,  in  which  first  it  had  its  being, 
has  long  since  disappeared,  and  now  a  colossal  six-story  building  is 
scarcely  sufficient  to  afford  room  for  the  requirements  of  the  journal. 

The  Republican,  in  the  various  gradations  of  its  advance,  is  as  sure  an 
index  of  the  growth  of  St.  Louis  as  is  a  mathematical  calculation.  Its  little 
small  columns  first  suited  the  small  village,  and  as  year  by  year  the  town 
grew,  it  swelled  in  its  dimensions ;  and  when  St.  Louis  became  the  metro- 
polis of  the  West,  it  had  outstripped  in  size  and  circulation  every  other 
journal  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains.  It  has  ever  been  devoted  to 
the  welfare  of  the  city,  and  St.  Louis  owes  much  of  its  present  important 
position  to  the  influence  of  its  columns. 

The  Missouri  Republican  is  now  owned  by  Messrs.  George  Knapp, 
Nathaniel  Paschall,  and  John  Knapp.  It  has  a  daily  circulation  the 


164  THE   ST.    LOUIS    PRESS. 


largest  in  the  city,  a  tri-weekly,  and  weekly  one,  also  two  California 
editions.  Tfcere  are  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  hands  employed  in  its 
office,  and  the  weekly  expenses  are  $5,000.  Nathaniel  Paschall  is  its 
chief  editor,  assisted  by  an  efficient  corps  of  talented  gentlemen. 

The  Missouri  Democrat. 

The  Missouri  Democrat  was  established  in  1852  by  William  McKee  and 
William  Hill,  under  propitious  auspices.  All  the  patronage  which  had 
been  bestowed  upon  the  Sentinel  and  Union,  two  popular  journals,  was 
turned  upon  the  new  enterprise ;  for  both  of  these  papers  were  discon- 
tinued at  the  commencement  of  the  Democrat ;  so  that  it  could  enter 
upon  its  career  with  the  fairest  prospects. 

The  wants  of  the  community  required  the  establishment  of  a  journal 
of  the  political  tenets  advocated  by  the  Democrat,  for  since  the  establish- 
ment of  the  "Barnburner"  some  years  previously  by  Mr.  McKee,  in  1848, 
freesoilism  had  become  very  popular,  and  the  new  journal  came  into 
being  with  hosts  of  friends.  In  consequence  of  feeble  health,  Mr.  Hill 
sold  out  his  interest  to  Mr.  George  M.  Fishback,  a  son  of  Judge  Fisbback, 
and  a  humorous  and  popular  writer.  He  is  the  commercial  editor  of  the 
paper,  and  is  most  efficient  in  that  department. 

Day  by  day  the  Democrat  has  been  gathering  strength  and  popularity, 
and  now,  in  the  eighth  year  of  its  existence,  ranks  second  to  no  other 
paper  in  the  great  Mississippi  Valley. 

The  Daily  Evening  News  and  Intelligencer. 

The  Daily  Evening  News,  jointly  owned  by  Charles  G.  Ramsey  and 
Abraham  S.  Mitchell,  was  established  in  1852,  and  started  with  the  small 
circulation  of  five  hundred  copies.  It  was  ably  edited  and  soon  became 
regarded  with  favor  by  the  community.  Its  circulation  has  continually 
increased  until  it  has  reached  4,000  dailies,  7,000  weeklies,  and  500  tri- 
weeklies, and  the  weekly  expenses  of  the  establishment  are  nearly  $1,000 
Mr.  Abraham  S.  Mitchell,  editor,  Mr.  Daniel  N.  Grisson,  associate-editor. 
There  are  also  able  reporters  connected  with  the  journal. 

The  Evening  Bulletin. 

This  already  popular  journal  was  established  in  1859  by  Messrs.  Peckam 
&  Bittenger,  who,  in  a  few  months  afterward,  disposed  of  it  to  Mr.  Eu- 
gene Longmaier,  a  young  gentleman  of  fine  attainments,  who  has  com- 
menced his  editorial  career  with  much  promise. 

Mr.  Longmaier  is  particularly  suited  to  the  atmosphere  of  St.  Louis, 
for  he  was  born  in  the  Mound  City — his  parents  also,  and  his  grandparents ; 
and  his  great-grandmother,  Madame  Elizabeth  Ortes,  is  the  oldest  inhabit- 
ant of  the  place.  His  journal  is  decidedly  partisan,  and  embraces  the 
Democratic  creed.  It  has  a  daily  and  weekly  issue. 

The  St.  Louis  Daily  Express. 

The  St.  Louis  Daily  Express  was  established  in  1858,  by  Wm.  Cuddy, 
a  gentleman  for  many  years  practically  connected  with  journalism.  Its 
first  issue  was  in  a  miniature  form,  which  continued  for  some  months, 


THE   ST.    LOUIS   PKESS.  165 


until  its  increasing  patronage  justified  its  increasing  size.  It  is  now  a 
large  and  respectable  sheet,  and  progressing  in  influence  and  circulation. 
It  is  published  also  weekly. 

The  Home  Press. 

This  is  the  name  of  a  highly  promising  journal,  born  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  year  1860,  and  under  the  charge  of  R.  V.  Kennedy,  T.  M. 
Ilalpin,  and  James  Peckarn.  It  is  truly  a  family  and  literary  paper,  and 
the  only  one  that  can  lay  claim  to  that  appellation  west  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  St.  Louis  Daily  Herald. 

This  popular  sheet  was  established  in  December,  1852.  It  is  at  present 
owned  and  ably  edited  by  Mr.  James  L.  Faucett,  under  whose  efficient 
management  it  has  reached  an  extensive  circulation.  It  has  a  daily  cir- 
culation, and  likewise  an  extensive  weekly  one. 

There  are  also  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis  several  other  daily  and  weekly 
newspapers  published  in  the  English  language — the  St.  Louis  Observer, 
published  weekly  by  A.  F.  Cox,  and  edited  by  the  Rev.  Milton  Bird ;  the 
St.  Louis  Presbyterian,  published  weekly  by  Messrs.  Keith  &  Woods,  and 
edited  by  the  Rev.  James  H.  Page  ;  the  St.  Louis  Christian  Advocate,  a 
weekly  sheet,  published  by  the  Methodist  Conference,  and  edited  by  the 
Rev.  D.  R.  M' Anally ;  the  Western  Watchman,  published  weekly,  and 
edited  by  the  Rev.  William  Cromwell;  the  Central  Christian  Advocate,  a 
weekly  sheet,  edited  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Brooks;  and  the  Western  Ban- 
ner, published  weekly,  and  edited  by  Mr.  B.  D.  Killian. 

All  of  these  journals  are  edited  with  ability,  have  a  respectable  circula- 
tion, and  exercise  an  important  influence  in  the  various  circles  of  society 

RICHARD  EDWARDS'  PUBLICATIONS. 

The  People's  Press. — A  daily  journal,  independent  in  politics  and  relig- 
ion; its  aim,  the  people's  good. 

The  People's  Weekly  Press. — An  Excelsior  family  newspaper. 

Edwards'  Monthly. — A  journal  of  western  progress,  an  organ  of  the 
progression  in  art,  literature,  science,  agriculture,  banking,  internal  im- 
provements, etc.,  etc. 

Edwards'  Western  Almanac. — A  correct  and  standard  almanac  for  the 
million,  containing  also  sprinklings  in  every  department  of  knowledge — a 
yearly  visitor  which  every  family  looks  for  with  pleasure. 


GERMAN  NEWSPAPERS. 

As  the  Germans  form  at  least  one-half  of  our  Great  Metropolis,  it  may 
well  be  supposed  that  their  interest  is  fully  represented  by  a  number  of 
journals  in  their  native  language.  Wherever  they  are  found  the  Germans 
are  characterized  by  the  possession  of  those  elements  of  character  which 
always  contribute  to  their  worldly  prosperity.  They  are  not  as  fast  in 
their  ideas  as  Young  America,  but  they  have  more  solidity  of  character, 
and  are  more  constant  and  untiring  in  their  pursuits,  and  are  generally 


166  THE   ST.    LOUIS    PJiESS. 

more  sure  of  gaining  the  race  in  life  and  arriving  at  the  goal  of  fortune. 
They  resemble  the  tortoise  in  the  fable — slow,  constant,  and  successful. 

Anzeiger  des  Western — (Henry  Boernstein  proprietor.) 

This  popular  and  influential  journal  was  established  October  20th,  1835. 
It  is  the  oldest  German  newspaper  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  but  had  to 
content  itself  with  a  small  issue  of  only  500  copies  the  first  year  of  its  ex- 
istence. The  energy  and  talent  of  Henry  Boernstein,  to  whom  it  owes 
its  creation,  soon  made  its  merit  apparent,  and  its  circulation  rapidly  in- 
creased. Now  it  has  a  daily  issue  of  6,219,  and  a  weekly  one  of  5,747. 
Editors,  Henry  Boernstein  and  Charles  L.  Bernays. 

From  the  same  office  also  issue  two  Sunday  papers,  the  Saloon,  estab- 
lished in  1854,  and  the  WestlicJie  Blaetter  in  1859.  They  have  conjointly 
a  circulation  of  1,500  copies.  All  of  the  papers  are  conducted  in  a  manner 
which  evinces  a  knowledge  of  the  wants  of  the  people,  tact,  and  ability. 

St.  Louis  Daily  Chronicle. 

This  ably  edited  paper  is  owned  by  Mr.  Francis  Saler  and  Mr.  Adelbert 
Loehr.  It  has  not  been  in  existence  many  years,  but  has  already  a  large 
circulation  and  a  widespread  influence.  The  St.  Louis  Weekly  Chronicle, 
under  the  charge  of  the  same  proprietor  and  editor,  is  in  increasing  de 
mand  and  gotten  up  in  an  attractive  form. 

Der  Herald  des  Gflaubens. 

Der  Herald  des  Glaubens  is  a  Catholic  Sunday  journal,  under  the  charge 
of  Mr.  Anthony  Bockling.  It  has  many  friends,  and  is  rapidly  increasing 
its  circulation. 

Wesliche  Post. 

Wesliche  Post  is  published  daily  and  weekly.  It  is  received  with  much 
favor  by  the  public,  and  its  columns  bear  ample  testimony  that  they  are 
tinder  charge  of  talented  and  experienced  editors.  They  are  journals  of 
intrinsic  value,  and  have  an  extensive  and  growing  circulation.  Messrs. 
Daenzer  &  Wenzell,  editors  and  proprietors.  The  Mississippi  Blaetter,  a 
popular  Sunday  paper,  is  issued  by  the  same  gentlemen. 

Mississippi  Handel's  Zeitung. 

This  is  the  only  German  paper  west  of  New  York  that  may  be  called 
a  thorough  commercial  journal.  It  was  established  by  Mr.  Robert  Wid- 
man  in  1857.  It  commenced  in  the  very  midst  of  great  pecuniary  pressure, 
but  has  met  with  the  most  sanguine  success.  It  has  doubled  its  size  and 
has  a  large  circulation.  It  is  a  weekly  sheet  and  under  the  editorial 
charge  of  Robert  Widman,  Dr.  Koch,  and  Joseph  Bauer. 

Revue  de  F  Quest — (a  French  newspaper,  J.  Wolf  proprietor). 

This  ably  edited  journal  is  well  known  amid  the  educated  portion  of 
the  French  inhabitants  of  the  city,  and  likewise  among  those  American 
families,  of  whom  there  is  a  great  number,  that  are  familiar  with  the 
French  language.  It  was  established  in  1854,  and  has  now  a  circulation 
of  2,500.  It  is  a  weekly  sheet,  and  Mr.  Louis  Cortambert,  a  gentleman 
of  fine  literary  attainments,  is  its  accomplished  editor. 


THE    ST.    LOUIS    PKESS.  167 


NATHANIEL    PASCHALL, 

EDITOR  OF  "THE  BEPUBLICAN." 

IN  writing  the  biography  of  Nathaniel  Paschall  it  is  but  proper  to  pre- 
mise that  he  is  the  oldest  editor  west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  from 
his  long  connection  with  the  most  influential  journal  in  the  west,  is  more 
extensively  known  than  any  citizen  in  Missouri. 

He  was  born  April  4th,  1 804,  at  Knoxville,  Tennessee.  When  he  was  but 
a  child  his  father  removed  to  St.  Genevieve,  where  he  remained  but  a 
limited  time ;  for,  having  lost  his  wife  in  his  new  abode,  he  came  to  St. 
Louis.  While  in  St.  Genevieve,  the  little  advantages  afforded  by  the  vil- 
lage school  were  enjoyed  by  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  and  when  he 
came  to  St.  Louis,  though  but  twelve  years  of  age,  his  business  life  com- 
menced, and  he  became  a  worker  in  the  busy  hive  of  population. 

At  the  time  of  his  advent  in  St.  Louis,  the  Republican,  under  another 
name,  had  been  in  existence  some  eight  years,  and  being  agreeable  to  his 
inclinations,  which  even  at  that  early  age  tended  to  a  love  of  knowledge, 
he  was  apprenticed  to  Mr.  Joseph  Charless,  its  proprietor,  and  commenced 
learning  a  pursuit  for  which  a  predisposition  appears  to  have  fitted  him, 
and  which  he  has  pursued  with  so  much  success.  His  ambition,  his  tact, 
and  natural  talents  quickly  passed  him  through  the  various  gradations  of 
his  art.  He  was  not  only  ambitious  to  excel  in  the  mechanical  execution 
of  his  business,  but  having  a  thirst  for  literature,  he  read  with  avidity  the 
standard  authors  of  his  language,  and,  studying  their  style,  learned  the  art 
of  composition,  and  long  before  he  was  free  from  his  indenture,  he  could, 
and  did  write  spicy  editorials. 

Two  years  after  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Joseph  Charless  from  the  print- 
ing business,  his  son,  Edward  Charless,  assumed  the  proprietorship,  and 
under  his  charge  the  paper  took  the  name  which  it  now  bears.  The 
paper  then  underwent  some  changes  in  its  proprietorship,  all  of  which 
time  Mr.  Paschall  remained  connected  with  it,  until,  in  1827,  the  firm 
became  Charless  &  Paschall,  and  while  in  this  connection  the  little  weekly 
sheet  was  increased  several  times  in  size,  as  the  wants  of  the  community  re- 
quired, and  first  came  to  have  a  tri-weekly  and  then  a  daily  existence.  From 
his  first  advent  as  a  writer  he  became  devoted  to  the  interests  of  his  adopted 
state  and  city,  and  the  almost  omnipotent  influence  of  the  Republican, 
from  his  first  connection  with  it,  was  lent  to  advance  and  advocate  all 
measures  that  were  likely  to  forward  the  progress  of  St.  Louis  and  sub- 
serve the  interest  of  Missouri.  He  became  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the 
Republican  in  1827,  and  in  1837  he  and  Mr.  Charless  disposed  of  the 
Republican  to  Messrs.  Chambers,  Harris,  and  Knapp. 

When  Mr.  Paschall  retired  from  the  Republican  he  had  amassed  an 
ample  competency,  but,  meeting  with  some  pecuniary  reverses,  which 
rendered  it  necessary  for  him  again  to  take  up  the  pen,  which  before  had 
been  the  means  that  raised  him  to  wealth  and  position,  he  then  com- 


168  THE   ST.    LOUIS  *PKESS. 


inenccd,  in  connection  with  Charles  G.  Ramsay,  the  publication  of  a  journal 
styled  the  New  Era,  which  was  received  with  great  favor  by  the  people, 
and  for  some  time  exercised  an  important  influence  over  the  current 
events  of  the  day.  Being  elected  clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas, 
he  gave  up,  to  some  extent,  the  editorial  chair,  to  fulfil  the  duties  of  his 
new  appointment.  About  this  time  he  was  invited  to  become  associate- 
editor  of  the  Republican,  then  under  the  charge  of  Colonel  Chambers 
and  George  Knapp,  and  again 'became  connected  with  the  journal, 
which  he  had  raised  to  importance  and  influence  during  his  proprietorship. 
As  associate-editor  he  continued  in  connection  with  the  Republican  until 
the  death  of  Colonel  Chambers;  and  when  the  family  of  the  lamented 
deceased  disposed  of  his  interest,  Mr.  Paschall  again  became  one  of  the 
proprietors  of  the  journal,  and  the  firm  of  George  Knapp  &  Co.  came 
into  existence. 

In  politics  Mr.  Paschall  has  ever  been  allied  with  the  old  Whig  party,  and 
during  its  existence  was  its  most  efficient  champion  in  advocating  and  defend- 
ing its  principles,  and  the  Republican  was  the  organ  of  the  party.  When 
the  Whig  party  died,  Mr.  Paschall,  being  identified  with  no  other,  in  the 
presidential  contest  of  1856  advocated  the  election  of  Buchanan,  as  being 
the  least  objectionable  of  the  candidates,  without  committing  himself  to 
the  support  of  the  party  to  which  he  belonged.  Since  the  old  Whig  party, 
with  which  he  was  so  long  identified,  is  no  more  in  existence,  he  has  be- 
come pledged  to  no  other,  and  reserves  to  himself  the  independence  and 
privilege  of  supporting  what  men  and  measures  will  be  most  subservient  to 
the  interests  of  the  state  and  country. 

There  are  few  men  now  living  more  intimately  acquainted  with  the 
political  history  of  the  western  country  than  Mr.  Paschall,  and,  becoming 
a  resident  of  Missouri  while  it  was  a  territory,  he  has  efficiently  aided  her 
in  her  colossal  progress. 

In  his  friendship  Mr.  Paschall  is  warm  and  constant,  and  those  who 
possess  it  regard  it  as  an  invaluable  boon.  His  name  adds  weigh*t  with 
whatever  it  is  associated,  and  is  familiar  to  almost  every  hearthstone  in 
Missouri. 

In  1832,  Mr.  Paschall  was  married  to  Mrs.  Martha  E.  Edgar,  and  has 
a  large  family  of  children.  "He  may  be  said  to  have  spent  a  long  life  amid 
the  wearing  labors  and  mental  excitement  incident  to  editorial  life.  As  a 
writer  he  is  remarkable  for  his  perspicuity,  and  his  language  possesses  a 
massiveness  which  is  overwhelming  in  argument.  Though  possessing 
sufficient  acrimony  as  a  politician  to  make  him  dreaded  by  his  opponents, 
he  never  forgets  the  pride  of  self-respect,  which  prevents  him  from  indulg- 
ing in  the  low,  brawling  slang  of  Billingsgate  abuse.  He  has  exercised  the 
duties  of  an  editor  for  nearly  forty  years  in  St.  Louis,  and  has  ever  been  an 
advocate  of  every  measure,  and  gave  them  the  powerful  support  of  his 
columns,  which  had  for  their  aim  the  benefit  of  the  city  or  state. 

"  Beneath  the  rule  of  men  entirely  great, 
The  pen  is  mightier  than  the  sword — 
The  arch-enchanter's  wand" 


THE   ST.    LOUIS   PKESS.  169 


A,   P,   LADEW. 

A.  P.  LADEW  was  born  in  Albany,  New  York,  September  13th,  1811. 
His  father,  Stephen  Ladew,  was  a  man  of  fine  abilities,  following  mer- 
chandiisng  as  a  vocation,  and  served  at  one  time  in  the  confidential  rela- 
tion of  secretary  to  Governor  De  Witt  Clinton. 

Young  Ladew  was  sent  to  school  until  he  was  thirteen  years  of  age, 
when  he  was  put  to  learn  the  trade  of  type-making  and  stereotyping.  He 
finished  his  trade  in  the  well-known  establishment  of  James  Conner,  now 
James  Conner  &  Sons,  whose  establishment  is  one  of  the  institutions  of 
New  York,  and  the  most  extensive  in  the  city.  After  finishing  his  trade 
he  was  fortunate  in  forming  the  acquaintance  and  winning  the  confidence 
of  Mr.  L.  Johnson  of  Philadelphia,  whose  magnificent  type-foundry  is  well 
known  throughout  the  Union,  and  under  his  patronage  and  that  of  George 
Charles,  he  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1838,  and  commenced  the  type-foundry 
business,  the  firm  being  styled  George  Charles  &  Co.  This  connection 
remained  for  four  years,  when  Mr.  Ladew  bought  out  his  associates,  and 
to  this  day  continues  in  the  business.  The  St.  Louis  Type-Foundry  is 
widely  known  in  the  West,  and  the  firm  of  Ladew,  Peers,  &  Co.  is  exten- 
sively and  honorably  known  in  the  business  world  of  St.  Louis. 

From  the  circumstance  of  keeping  a  type-foundry,  Mr.  Ladew  has  had 
more  or  less  acquaintance  with  the  different  newspaper  enterprises  that 
have  started  in  St.  Louis  since  he  has  been  established  in  business.  The 
establishing  of  a  journal  is  precarious  in  any  city,  but  in  St.  Louis  it  is 
particularly  unfortunate.  The  warm  rays  of  hope  always  flood  the  hearts 
of  those  who  are  making  preparations  to  issue  a  new  sheet.  They  pur- 
chase their  type  with  bright  anticipations  of  the  future,  and  soon  the  new 
creation  is  before  the  public.  The  rare  combination  of  tact,  talent,  and 
capital  is  wanting  to  render  it  successful,  and  after  a  few  days  or  a  few 
months  it  dies  and  is  heard  of  no  more.  It  is  the  experience  of  Mr.  La- 
dew,  and  all  who  own  type-foundries,  that  newspaper  enterprises  are  the 
most  precarious  of  all  ventures,  and  so  rarely  do  they  succeed,  that  any 
one  who  engages  in  them  is  almost  certain  of  failure. 

Mr.  Ladew  has  been  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Miss  Catherine 
Leets  of  New  Jersey ;  and  his  present  estimable  lady  was  Mrs.  Lizzie  E. 
Clark,  whom  he  married,  September  3d,  1856.  He  has  been  and  is  con- 
nected with  some  of  the  most  important  of  our  public  institutions,  which 
is  evidence  of  the  confidence  he  enjoys  in  the  community.  He  has  been  a 
director  of  the  St.  Louis  Building  and  Saving  Association,  was  a  member 
of  the  city  council,  was  vice-president  of  the  Commercial  Insurance  Com- 
pany, and  is  a  director  in  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis. 


170  THE   ST.    LOUIS   PEES8. 


COLONEL  GEORGE  KNAPP. 

GEORGE  KNAPP  was  born  September  25th,  1814,  in  Montgomery,  Orange 
county,  New  York,  and  when  but  a  child,  his  parents  immigrated  to  St. 
Louis  in  December,  1819.  At  the  early  age  of  twelve  he  entered  as  an 
apprentice  in  the  .Republican  office,  then  owned  by  Messrs.  Charless  & 
Paschall.  In  1834  he  reached  the  age  of  manhood  proficient  in  his  busi- 
ness, and,  by  his  uprightness  of  character  possessed  of  the  esteem  of  a 
large  circle  of  acquaintances.  He  still  continued  in  the  Republican,  and 
two  years  afterward,  August  of  1836,  he  received  from  the  proprietors 
of  the  journal  an  expressive  mark  of  their  esteem,  by  being  presented 
with  an  interest  in  the  book  and  jobbing  department ;  and  when  Messrs. 
Charless  &  Paschall  sold  out  in  1837,  he  became  one  of  the  proprietors 
with  Messrs.  Chambers  &  Harris. 

It  is  natural  for  all  men  to  feel  a  commendable  pride  when  they  see 
that  their  merit  has  become  acknowledged,  and  their  efforts  have  become 
rewarded  by  a  well-deserved  success,  and  George  Knapp  must  have  felt  to 
the  utmost  the  whispering  praise  of  self-respect,  when  he  found  that  at 
the  early  age  of  twenty-three  he  had  become  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the 
most  widely  circulated  and  most  influential  journals  in  Missouri.  When 
a  small  boy  he  entered  the  office  in  an  humble  capacity,  and  by  the  pos- 
session of  sterling  merit,  and  with  a  will  that  was  determined  upon  success, 
he  carved  his  way  to  fortune  and  position.  He  has  been  one  of  the  pro- 
prietors of  the  Republican  through  all  of  its  changes,  from  1837  to  the 
present. 

George  Knapp,  in  1835,  took  a  part  in  the  volunteer  military  service ; 
and  when  the  news  flew  through  the  Union  like  wild-fire  that  the  troops 
of  the  United  States  and  those  of  Mexico  were  in  conflict,  he  was  among  the 
first  to  volunteer  his  services  in  1846,  and  served  in  Mexico  as  lieutenant 
in  the  St.  Louis  Grays  of  the  St.  Louis  Legion.  He  afterward  became  cap- 
tain and  then  colonel  of  the  first  battalion  of  the  St.  Louis  Legion.  As  an 
officer  he  has  always  been  most  popular  and  respected. 

Colonel  Knapp,  by  his  virtues  and  his  connection  with  the  Republican 
is  well  known  in  St.  Louis,  and  there  is  none  whose  fair  fame  is  more  pure. 
He  is  zealous  in  advocating  and  assisting  all  public-spirited  enterprises ; 
and  many  of  the  public  buildings  which  now  ornament  the  city  owe  their 
erection  much  to  the  zealous  part  he  took  in  personally  soliciting  sub- 
scriptions. He  has  also  been  a  stanch  friend  to  railroads,  and  has  sub- 
scribed liberally  to  their  stock.  He  has,  by  his  industry  and  business 
qualifications,  amassed  a  large  fortune,  but  it  has  not  chilled  or  destroyed 
the  warm  sympathies  which  make  him  so  sensibly  alive  to  the  misfortunes 
of  others.  He  is  social,  charitable,  and  public-spirited — alive  to  misfortune, 
and  ready  to  relieve  it ;  and  quick  to  advocate  any  measure  that  will  ad- 
vance the  interest  of  St.  Louis  or  his  adopted  state. 

Colonel  George  Knapp  was  married  December  22d,  1840,  to  Miss 
Eleanor  McCartan,  daughter  of  Thomas  McCartan,  late  of  St.  Louis.  He  is 
of  a  retiring  disposition,  more  ready  at  all  times  to  advance  the  merits 
of  others  than  display  his  own ;  and  among  the  one  hundred  and  ninety 
thousand  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  there  is  no  one  more  popular  and 
respected. 


THE    ST.    LOUIS   PRESS.  171 


COLONEL  CHARLES  KEEMLE. 

IN  October,  1800,  in  the  good  old  city  of  Philadelphia,  Charles  Keemle 
was  born.  His  grandfather  was  a  respectable  physician,  who  emigrated  from 
Amsterdam  and  settled  in  the  land  of  Penn.  His  father  was  a  skilful  mechanic, 
yet  devoted  but  a  little  of  his  life  to  that  pursuit,  but  as  a  commander  of 
trading  vessels,  spent  most  of  his  time  upon  the  rivers  and  the  ocean.  His 
mother  died  in  the  city  of  Norfolk,  Virginia,  when  he  was  but  six  years 
of  age,  and  he  was  placed  in  charge  of  an  uncle  until  he  was  nine  years  of 
age,  and  then  was  put  to  learn  the  printing  business  in  the  office  of  the 
Norfolk  Herald,  where  he  remained  until  1816.  He  is,  consequently,  the 
oldest  printer  west  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  love  of  adventure  was  always  a  dominant  trait  in  the  character  of 
Charles  Keemle,  and  on  leaving  the  office  of  the  Norfolk  Herald,  at  the 
suggestion  of  Dr.  Jennings  of  Norfolk,  who  had  a  brother  resident  in  Indiana, 
and  looking  forward  to  the  chief  magistracy  of  the  state,  he  determined  to 
go  to  Vincennes,  Indiana,  and  there  establish  a  paper.  Accompanied  by  a 
fellow-printer  of  much  more  mature  years,  he  started  for  his  future  desti- 
nation, where  he  arrived  March,  1817,  having  performed  that  portion  of 
the  journey  on  foot  between  Baltimore  and  Pittsburgh.  On  March  14th, 
the  first  number  of  the  Indiana  Sentinel  was  issued,  published  by  Dillworth 
&  Keemle. 

Believing,  from  the  location  of  Vincennes,  that  it  would  never  become 
a  great  city,  young  Keemle  accepted  the  invitation  given  to  him  by  many 
influential  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  and  arrived  there  August  2d,  1817.  He 
took  charge  of  a  paper  called  the  Emigrant,  which  was  the  second  journal 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  which  was  afterward  merged  into  the  St.  Louis 
Enquirer,  with  which  Thomas  H.  Benton  was  connected  in  the  capacity  of 
editor.  The  continued  confinement  beginning  to  tell  on  his  constitution  he 
gave  up  the  printing  business  in  August,  1820,  and  engaged  as  clerk  to  the 
American  Fur-Company ;  and  now  commences  a  portion  of  his  history 
which  is  filled  with  romantic  incident. 

The  company  started  from  St.  Louis  September,  1820,  and  spent  the 
winter  in  trading  successfully  with  the  Kansas  tribe  of  Indians. 

In  1821,  Mr.  Keernle  was  selected  by  Major  Joshua  Pilcher  to  make  one 
of  a  company  of  fifty-four,  carefully  picked  for  the  occasion,  to  penetrate 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  to  trade  with  the  savage  hordes  of  Indians  who 
inhabited  those  far  off  wilds.  The  party  started  from  Fort  Lisa,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Council  Bluff,  and,  after  some  perilous  adventures,  arrived  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone  and  commenced  trading  with  the  Crows, 
who  inhabited  that  country,  and  sending  out  in  all  directions  the  ex- 
perienced hunters  and  trappers  that  they  might  obtain  as  large  a  quantity 
of  beaver-skins  as  possible,  which  kind  of  fur  was  most  desired  by  the 
company.  Mr.  Keemle  acted  as  agent  and  clerk  of  the  expedition,  and 
for  three  years  suffered  all  the  hardships  incident  to  living  and  trading  in 
the  remote  wilderness,  far  from  the  pale  of  civilization. 


172  THE   ST.    LOUIS   PKESS. 


While  in  these  remote  regions,  he  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life  from 
a  murderous  attack  by  an  overwhelming  number  of  Indians  upon  the  few 
daring  spirits  who  had  ventured  into  their  country.  It  was  the  closing 
of  the  Spring  of  1823,  that  the  company,  which  had  become  reduced  to 
forty-one  men,  were  trading  on  the  head-waters  of  the  Missouri,  and  from 
significant  signs  discovered  that  the  Blackfeet  Indians,  who  roamed  over 
those  regions,  evinced  a  hostile  intention.  They  saw  large  companies  of 
that  warlike  tribe  roaming  in  their  vicinity,  and  evidently  watching  their 
movements.  The  company  immediately  retraced  their  steps,  and  en- 
deavored to  regain  the  Crow  country,  where  the  natives  were  friendly 
and  the  feudal  enemies  of  the  Blackfeet.  The  last-named  Indians,  on  dis- 
covering their  intention,  gathered  themselves  into  a  formidable  body  of 
more  than  a  thousand  warriors,  and  early  one  morning  attacked  the  party, 
amid  deafening  yells,  as  they  were  passingalong  the  base  of  a  small  moun- 
tain skirting  the  Yellowstone.  To  have  yielded  to  their  enemies  would 
have  subjected  them  to  captivity,  then  torture,  and  finally  death.  Resist- 
ance, though  against  such  fearful  odds,  was  the  only  alternative,  and  the 
party  had  previously  made  up  their  minds  to  defend  themselves  to  the 
last  extremity  to  save  their  scalp-locks  from  the  clutch  of  the  savage.  In 
the  murderous  attack  the  two  leaders  of  the  expedition,  Immell  and  Jones, 
fell  early  in  the  engagement,  and  then  the  command  devolved  upon  Mr. 
Keemle,  who  ordered  the  men  to  fight  while  retreating  from  ravine  to 
ravine,  and  after  a  conflict  of  eight  hours  succeeded  in  driving  off  their 
enemies,  who  had  hung  upon  their  path  howling  and  yelling  like  so  many 
demons — with  considerable  loss.  The  little  party  suffered  severely,  having 
had  ten  killed,  nine  wounded,  and  one  was  missing.  They  afterward 
reached  a  Crow  village,  and  manufacturing  some  boats,  arrived  safely  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone. 

Colonel  Keemle  remained  connected  with  the  company  until  1825, 
when  he  returned  to  St.  Louis  and  associated  himself  again  with  the 
printing  business,  and  although  he  had  several  lucrative  offers  made  to  him 
nothing  could  tempt  him  again  to  the  Yellowstone.  He  was  associated 
with  five  or  six  newspaper  enterprises,  none  of  which  had  a  permanent 
existence;  but  during  their  time  were  the  organs  of  the  Democratic  party. 

In  1839,  Colonel  Keemle  was  married  to  the  only  daughter  of  Thomas  P. 
Oliver,  now  of  Illinois,  and  has  a  family  of  three  children.  He  possesses, 
in  a  high  degree,  the  esteem  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  has  been  offered 
several  honorable  positions.  In  1839  he  was  nominated  for  mayor,  but 
declined  running,  and  when  General  Harrison  became  president,  he 
received  the  first  appointment  made  by  him  in  this  state,  that  of  super- 
intendent of  Indian  affairs  for  Missouri.  In  1840  he  received  the  ap- 
pointment of  secretary  of  the  interior,  and  under  General  Taylor's 
administration,  that  of  Indian  agent  for  the  entire  Platte  River  district, 
both  of  which  he  declined.  In  1853  he  was  elected  recorder  of  deeds 
for  St.  Louis  county,  which  office  he  still  holds. 

Colonel  Keemle  is  one  of  the  most  popular  men  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis. 
He  is  in  the  sixtieth  year  of  his  age,  but  possesses  health  and  vigor 
sufficient  to  have  another  bout  with  the  Indians  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Yellowstone. 


ABRAM    S.    MITCHELL, 

EDITOR    OF   THE    ST.    LOUIS    EVENING   NEWS. 

THE  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  December  1st,  1820,  near  the  city 
of  Nashville,  Davidson  county,  Tennessee.  His  parents  were  both  natives 
of  Virginia.  His  grandfather,  Thomas  Mitchell,  was  a  merchant  in  Lynch- 
burgh,  Virginia,  during  the  Revolution,  and  was  a  man  of  education  and 
fine  literary  attainments.  But  his  store  was  plundered  by  the  British, 
and  he  was  reduced  to  poverty.  He  next  resorted  to  teaching;  but  died 
before  his  own  children  had  derived  much  benefit  from  his  instruction. 
The  family  being  now  quite  destitute  and  helpless,  were  driven  to  emi- 
grate to  the  wilds  of  Tennessee.  There  were  two  sons,  Thomas  and 
Robert  J.,  and  two  or  three  daughters.  After  struggling  in  various  ways 
to  support  himself  as  he  grew  up,  among  others,  working  at  the  shoe 
business,  Robert  J.  Mitchell,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  joined 
the  standard  of  General  Jackson,  who  was  raising  volunteers  for  the  Indian 
wars,  and  served  under  that  leader  in  a  campaign  against  the  Creeks,  and 
also  in  one  against  the  Seminoles.  Returning  to  Tennessee,  he  married, 
commenced  farming,  and  in  1827  removed  to  the  Hatchcss  River,  in  West 
Tennessee,  and  there,  in  Tipton  county,  the  family  still  resides. 

Abram  S.  Mitchell  was  sent  by  his  father  to  the  schools  of  the  neigh- 
borhood, but  he  soon  exhausted  the  little  that  the  schools  in  that  new  coun- 
try could  impart,  but  was  fortunate  enough  to  meet  at  that  time  with  an 
excellent  teacher  in  the  person  of  the  Rev.  James  Holmes,  who  had  formerly 
been  a  missionary  among  the  Indians,  and  who  earnestly  advised  him, 
when  he  could  make  circumstances  suit,  to  complete  his  education  at 
college.  During  intermissions  of  school,  he  sought  work  to  aid  in  his 
own  support.  He  applied  for  work  unsuccessfully  in  a  brickyard,  where 
he  was  rejected  for  want  of  strength,  and  was  afterward  employed  in  tend- 
ing a  bark-mill  in  a  tannery.  In  1837,  just  as  he  was  preparing  to  finish 
his  education  by  a  collegiate  course,  his  father  became  bankrupt  by  having 
become  security  for  a  sheriff,  and  all  of  his  property  was  sold  to  meet  his 
bond.  However,  a  few  years  later,  Mr,  Robert  W.  Sandford,  a  friend  of 
the  family,  feeling  an  interest  in  young  Mitchell,  and  appreciating  his, 
desire  for  an  education,  aided  him  in  going  to  college  at  Danville,  Ken- 
tucky, where  he  remained  only  eighteen  months,  and  graduated  with  full 
honors,  having,  by  dint  of  application,  accomplished  in  that  time  what 
usually  required  a  much  longer  time  to  perform.  He  taught  school  until 
he  relieved  himself  of  the  debt  he  incurred  in  his  education  (about 
$700),  and  then  studied  law  in  Danville,  and  established  a  newspaper 
called  the  Weekly  Kentucky  Tribune,  in  connection  with  Mr.  James  S. 
Hall.  That  year  he  supported  the  whig  candidate  for  governor,  who, 
after  election,  before  making  any  other  appointment,  bestowed  upon  him 
the  office  of  assistant-secretary  of  state. 

About  this  time  Mr.  Mitchell  married  Miss  Bodley,  of  Lexington,  Ken- 
tucky. After  serving  the  term  of  his  appointment,  he  and  his  fathcr-in- 
6 


174  ABRAM    8.    MITCHELL. 


law,  Mr.  H.  I.  Bodley,  determined  on  removing  to  St.  Louis,  which  they 
did  in  1849,  the  season  of  the  dreadful  visitation  by  the  cholera,  by  which 
he  lost  his  wife  and  child.  This  domestic  desolation  induced  him  to  re- 
turn to  Kentucky,  where,  in  a  short  time,  he  received  an  invitation  to 
become  assistant-editor  of  the  St.  Louis  Intelligencer,  then  about  to  come 
into  existence.  He  accepted  the  invitation,  but  did  not  long  remain  con- 
nected with  the  paper.  He  received  an  invitation  to  become  editor  of 
the  Republican  Banner  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  which  he  declined.  He 
became  land-agent,  and  then  secretary  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  Company, 
and  some  time  after  leaving  this  appointment,  at  the  instigation  of  some 
of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of  Missouri,  Mr.  Mitchell,  in  connection 
with  Charles  G.  Ramsey,  established  the  Evening  News.  He  is  half-owner 
and  chief  editor  of  the  journal. 

Mr.  Mitchell  is  a  vigorous  and  graceful  writer,  and  his  journal  has  an 
extensive  circulation.  He  was  married  the  second  time,  in  September, 
1851,  to  Miss  Mary  Brent  Talbot,  granddaughter  of  Governor  William 
Owsley,  Kentucky,  whom  he  politically  supported  when  he  first  wielded 
the  editorial  pen. 


WILLIAM    McKEE, 

SENIOR   PROPRIETOR    OF    THE    MISSOURI    DEMOCRAT. 

WILLIAM  McKEE  was  born  in  New  York  city,  September  24th,  1815. 
He  is  of  Irish  descent,  and  his  father,  after  emigrating  to  this  country, 
was  successfully  engaged  for  many  years  in  the  lumber  business.  He  was 
captain  of  a  vessel,  and  plied  between  Maine  and  the  West  Indies,  carry- 
ing liunber  from  Bangor  to  Jamaica. 

Captain  McKee  enjoyed  the  good-will  of  all  who  knew  him,  and  had 
the  confidence  which  years  of  integrity  in  business  relations  always  es- 
tablish. 

William  McKee  had  fair  opportunities  of  education ;  for,  after  finish- 
ing the  programme  of  common-school  education,  he  was  sent  to  the 
Lafayette  Academy,  where  he  remained  for  some  time  prosecuting  his 
studies;  and,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  entered  as  clerk  in  the  office  of  Major 
Noah,  who  was  at  that  time  the  editor  of  the  New  York  Courier  and 
Enquirer.  Some  time  afterward,  when  Major  Noah  sold  out  to  J.  Wat- 
son Webb,  Mr.  McKee  still  retained  his  place  under  the  new  proprietor, 
and  remained  altogether  in  the  office  for  five  years.  At  the  expiration  of 
that  time,  Major  Noah,  having  a  high  opinion  of  his  business  ability, 
offered  him  a  desirable  situation  in  the  office  of  the  Evening  Star,  which 
he  accepted,  and  remained  in  that  connection  till  1841,  when,  wishing  to 
be  a  sharer  in  the  advantages  which  the  Western  country  offered  to  as- 
piring spirits,  he  emigrated  to  St.  Louis. 

William  McKee  enjoyed  rare  advantages  of  accomplishing  himself  in 
the  art  of  newspaper  publication,  being  so  long  in  the  office  of  Major 
Noah,  one  of  the  oldest  editors,  and  one  of  the  most  finished  scholars  of 
the  day ;  and  on  his  advent  ia  St.  Louis,  he  determined  to  turn  his 
knowledge,  gained  under  such  auspices,  to  some  account,  and  purchased 
an  interest  in  the  Evening  Gazette,  in  connection  with  Mr.  Ruth.  He  re- 
mained part  proprietor  of  that  paper  for  two  years,  and  then,  disposing 
of  his  interest,  commenced  the  job-printing  business. 

At  that  time,  the  political  doctrines  of  the  Hunker  and  Barnburner 
factions,  originating  in  the  empire  state,  commenced  to  spread  over  the 
whole  Union,  each  party  having  its  advocates.  Mr.  McKee  was  a  sup- 
porter of  the  Free-soil  doctrine,  and  started  a  campaign  sheet  called  "The 
Barnburner" — the  first  Free-soil  paper  that  commenced  its  career  in  the 
slaveholding  state  of  Missouri.  He  then,  in  conjunction  with  William 
Hill,  commenced  the  publication  of  the  Signal  in  1850,  advocating  the 
same  political  principles ;  and  then,  having  purchased  the  Union,  the 
proprietors  merged  the  two  papers  into  a  new  existence — and  the  present 
Missouri  Democrat  came  into  being. 

It  required  all  the  enterprise,  the  hopeful  faith,  and  energy  for  which 
Mr.  McKeo  is  so  remarkable,  to  make  a  paper  advocating  Free-soil  doc- 
trines successful  in  Missouri ;  yet  he  accomplished  the  difficult  feat.  He 


176  GEORGE    W.    FISHBACK. 

purchased  afterward  the  interest  of  his  partner,  and,  after  being  some 
time  sole  proprietor  of  the  paper,  he  took  into  partnership  Mr.  George 
W.  Fishback,  son  of  Judge  Fishback,  of  Ohio,  a  gentleman  of  good  attain- 
ments, and  a  fluent  and  graceful  writer.  Mr.  McKee  is  still  the  senior 
proprietor  of  the  Democrat. 

July  18th,  1855,  Mr.  McKee  was  married  to  Miss  Eliza  Hill,  daughter 
of  Samuel  Hill,  of  New  York.  That  he  exerts  a  remarkable  influence 
over  the  current  events  of  his  time,  is. evinced  from  the  fact  that  the  jour- 
nal under  his  control  is  the  organ  of  the  Free-soil  party  in  St.  Louis,  and, 
it  may  be  said,  of  the  whole  state.  He  has  hosts  of  warm  friends,  and 
the  business  relations  of  nearly  twenty  years'  residence  in  St.  Louis  have 
given  him  the  entire  and  deserved  confidence  of  the  community. 


GEORGE    W.    FISHBACK, 

JOINT    PROPRIETOR    OF   THE     MISSOURI     DEMOCRAT,    AND    ITS     COMMERCIAL 

EDITOR. 

THE  subject  of  this  memoir  is  a  native  of  the  old  Buckeye  state,  and 
was  born  in  the  little  town  of  Batavia,  Clermont  county,  Ohio,  in  Decem- 
ber 3d,  1828.  His  father  was  a  Virginian,  who  emigrated  at  an  early 
day  to  the  southern  portion  of  Ohio,  when  it  was  almost  a  wild,  and  com- 
menced the  practice  of  the  law,  which  he  pursued  very  successfully  for 
thirty-five  years,  at  one  time  being  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas. 

George  W.  Fishback,  being  intended  by  his  father  for  the  law,  had  all 
the  preparatory  education  so  essential  for  the  proper  qualification  of  that 
profession.  He  was  educated  at  College  Hill,  Ohio,  and  graduated  at  that 
institution.  Being  anxious  to  seek  his  fortunes  in  another  sphere,  he 
emigrated  to  St.  Louis,  and,  disliking  the  monotony  of  a  lawyer's  life,  he 
comnfenced  the  still  more  laborious  life  of  a  journalist,  and  connected 
himself  with  the  Missouri  Democrat  as  commercial  editor,  and  soon  after 
became  joint-proprietor. 

Mr.  Fishback  is  devoted  to  his  profession,  and  writes  readily  on  the  cur- 
rent events  of  the  day,  and  his  contributions  can  readily  be  known  by 
the  rich  humorous  vein  in  which  he  frequently  indulges.  He  is  still 
youthful,  but  exercises  a  wide  and  deserving  influence  in  the  home  of  his 
adoption. 


THE   ST.    LOUIS   PRESS.  177 


HISTORY  OF  THE  VARIOUS  JOURNALS  THAT  HAVE  BEEN 
PUBLISHED  IN  ST.  LOUIS. 

OF  all  ventures  in  the  business  world,  the  publishing  of  a  newspaper  is 
the  most  precarious.  It  is  far  more  hazardous  and  uncertain  than  com- 
mercial pursuits ;  is  attended  with  toil  that  knows  no  cessation ;  and  is 
daily  liable  to  anathemas,  which,  if  coming  from  holy  lips,  would  consign 
it  to  eternal  perdition;  yet,  in  despite  of  this  certain  destruction  of 
worldly  hopes,  which  awaits  the  adventurer  in  a  newspaper  enterprise,  there 
is  some  mystical  fascination  which  causes  thousands  to  venture  upon  its 
dangerous  current,  where  they  rarely  escape  the  fate  that  awaited  the 
mariners  of  yore  when  navigating  the  seas  containing  the  fatal  rock  and 
eddying  whirlpool. 

It  will  be  of  interest  to  the  reader,  and  a  necessary  portion  of  the  his- 
tory of  St.  Louis,  without  which  it  would  be  incomplete,  to  give  a  succinct 
account  of  the  different  newspapers  that  have  had  their  existence  in  our 
city,  and  played  their  different  parts  in  the  political  and  literary  drama  of 
St.  Louis  existence.  We  will  lift  the  curtain  which  has  fallen,  and  once 
more  look  upon  the  parts  which  they  played.  We  will  not  touch  upon 
those  again  whose  history  we  have  before  given. 

The  second  newspaper  was  established  by  Joshua  Norvell,  in  1816,  and 
was  called  The  Western  Journal.  It  was,  soon  after  its  birth,  purchased 
by  Sergeant  Hall,  who  changed  its  name  to  that  of  the  Emigrant  and 
General  Advertiser,  a  weekly  sheet,  which  at  first  was  somewhat  popular, 
but,  commencing  to  decline,  it  was  sold  to  Isaac  N.  Henry,  Colonel  Thomas 
H.  Benton,  and  Mr.  Maury,  and'  the  name  was  changed  to  that  of  the 
St.  Louis  Enquirer,  which,  from  the  very  first,  became  strongly  partisan, 
advocating  the  Democratic  political  creed.  It  had  an  existence  at  the 
time  when  the  question  was  mooted  in  what  manner  Missouri  should  be 
admitted  into  the  Union — whether  as  a  slave  or  free  state.  Colonel 
Benton,  the  editor  in  chief  of  the  Enquirer,  advocated  the  slave  measure, 
and  a  pro-slavery  constitution  was  adopted  in  1820,  when  Missouri  was 
admitted  into  the  Union.  A  little  while  after  this,  the  paper  changed 
hands.  Colonel  Benton  having  been  elected  United  States  senator,  and 
Mr.  Henry  having  died,  the  remaining  partner,  Mr.  Maury,  disposed  of 
the  Enquirer  to  Patrick  H.  Ford,  who,  in  1823,  sold  it  to  General  Duff 
Green,  who  was  afterward  the  editor  of  the  United  States  Telegraph  at 
Washington,  a  democratic  organ.  He  edited  the  paper  until  1825, 
when  he  sold  it  to  Charles  Keemle  and  S.  W.  Foreman  ;  and  on  the  early 
dissolution  of  that  copartnership  in  1826,  the  Enquirer  was  sold  to  Luke 
E.  Lawless,  at  that  time  a  lawyer  of  high  standing,  and  as  a  politician  a 
stanch  supporter  of  Colonel  Benton.  The  paper,  during  the  short  period 
he  held  it,  was  edited  with  much  ability.  He  became  a  jurist  of  much 
ability.  In  1827,  Charles  Keemle,  one  of  its  old  proprietors,  again  pur- 
chased the  Enquirer,  in  conjunction  with  William  Orr,  and  changed  its 
name  to  the  St.  Louis  Beacon,  which  name  it  continued  to  bear  until 
1832,  when  it  died.  It  was  always  a  weekly  sheet,  and  Democratic 
through  all  its  changes.  During  certain  periods  of  its  existence  it  exer- 
cised a  very  important  political  influence. 


178  THE    ST.    LOUIS   PKES8. 


In  1820,  The  Herald  was  established  by  Messrs.  Orr  &  Fleming,  which 
had  but  a  temporary  existence. 

In  1827,  The  St.  Louis  Times,  a  Democratic  journal,  was  brought  into 
being  by  Messrs.  Stine  &  Miller,  and  edited  by  S.  W.  Foreman.  Though 
Democratic,  it  was  anti-Benton,  and  rabidly  opposed,  without  effect,  the 
re-election  of  Colonel  Benton  to  the  senate.  It  afterward  passed  into 
the  hands  of  Miller  &  Lovejoy,  and  then  was  conducted  by  Miller,  Murray 
&  Richards.  It  had  some  hopes  at  one  period  of  its  existence,  but,  from 
the  want  of  popular  support,  soon  became  involved  in  pecuniary  diffi- 
culties, and  finally,  in  1832,  was  sold  under  legal  process,  and  the  fixtures 
purchased  by  Colonel  Charles  Keemle.  The  journal  was  suffered  to  ex- 
pire. When  under  Miller  &  Lovejoy,  the  paper  was  tinged  with  aboli- 
tionism. 

In  1831,  a  paper  was  started  by  James  H.  Birch. 

During  1831,  The  Work in g man's  Advocate  was  started  by  Mr.  Steel, 
which  strongly  advocated  the  principles  of  the  Democratic  party,  and, 
being  bought  out  by  James  B.  BoAvlin  &  Mayfield,  was  changed  to  the 
St.  Louis  Argus.  It  was  at  this  time  very  ably  edited,  advocating  the 
cause  of  Democracy,  and  received  considerable  patronage.  It  was  then 
transferred  to  Mansfield,  Lawhead  &  Corbin.  It  continued  under  these 
last  proprietors  but  a  short  time,  with  deserved  popularity,  and  then 
came  into  the  possession,  successively,  of  Thomas  Watson,  Davis,  and 
Colonel  Gilpin.  It  was  then  purchased  by  S.  Penn,  a  gentleman  from 
Louisville,  and  an  experienced  and  able  journalist,  who  changed  the  title 
of  the  paper  to  that  of  the  Missouri  Reporter,  and  Samuel  Treat  was 
joined  with  him  in  the  editorship — the  Reporter  becoming  the  organ  of 
the  Democratic  party.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Penn,  it  came  into  the 
possession  of  L.  Pickering,  when  it  underwent  another  change  in  name, 
being  called  The  Union.  It  remained  a  short  time  in  his  possession,  and 
was  transferred  to  R.  Phillips,  who,  finding  it  in  a  languishing  state,  sold 
it  to  William  McKee,  the  publisher  of  the  Signal,  a  freesoil  sheet,  and  the 
Union  and  Signal  were  merged  in  a  new  name — the  present  Missouri 
Democrat. 

In  1834,  The  Commercial  Bulletin  came  into  existence,  under  the 
conduct  of  Colonel  Charles  Keemle,  William  P.  Clark,  and  S.  B.  Church- 
ill. It.  then  passed  into  the  hands  of  William  Clark,  and  shortly  after 
was  owned  by  Churchill  &  Ramsey,  when  it  became  Whig ;  and  then 
afterward,  being  purchased  by  V.  P.  Ellis,  it  again  changed  its  politics, 
and  became  the  organ  of  a  new  political  creed — "  The  Native  American 
party,"  whose  principles  at  that  time  were  being  promulgated  in  St. 
Louis.  For  a  time,  the  new  doctrines  of  political  worship  gained  many 
advocates,  and  the  paper  flourished  in  the  sunshine  of  popular  favor ;  but 
soon  the  plausibility  and  novelty  of  the  doctrines  ceased  to  attract  and 
delude,  and  the  paper  had  but  few  readers.  It  was  then  purchased  by 
Cady  and  Oliver  Harris,  and  soon  died  for  want  of  popular  support. 

There  were  some  other  journals  that  had  so  transient  an  existence  that 
we  shall  not  enter  into  any  minute  details  concerning  them — The  St. 
Louis  Pennant,  a  literary  paper,  established  by  G.  G.  Foster  and  Thomas 
Watson.  The  Evening  Gazette  was  established  in  1838,  by  David  B. 
Holbrook  &  G.  S.  Allen  ;  and  was  edited  by  William  S.  Allen.  In  1841, 
P.  A.  Gould  purchased  Allen's  interest,  and  the  firm  was  titled  Holbrook 


THE   ST.    LOTJI8   PKESS.  179 


<fe  Gould.  In  1842,  the  Gazette  was  sold  to  Henry  Singleton,  and  in 
1843,  was  purchased  by  McKee  &  Ruth,  and  edited  by  Edmond  Flagg. 
It  was  then  sold  in  1847  to  Lord,  and  then  died.  The  Mirror,  estab- 
lished by  Ruggles. 

In  183Y,  The  Saturday  News  was  brought  into  being  by  Colonel 
Charles  Keemle  and  Major  Alphonso  Wetmore,  both  gentlemen  having 
large  editorial  experience,  and  the  latter  was  justly  celebrated  for  his 
literary  attainments.  The  journal  was  purely  a  literary  one,  but  it  did 
not  succeed  according  to  its  deserts.  Colonel  Keemle  retired  from  it  a 
short  time  after  its  birth,  and  it  was  continued  by  Major  Wetmore,  and 
then  died. 

In  1841,  The  People's  Organ  was  established  by  Higgens,  and  then 
sold  out  to  Anderson  &  Staley ;  Staley  sold  out  to  Edmond  Flagg,  and 
the  firm  became  titled,  Anderson  &  Flagg ;  Flagg  then  retired,  and  it  was 
finally  conducted  by  Anderson  alone.  Its  existence  was  short. 

In  1845,  the  Reveille,  a  literary  paper  of  undoubted  merit,  was  founded 
by  Colonel  Keemle,  Matt,  and  Jos.  M.  Field ;  few  journals  were,  better 
conducted,  and  during  its  existence  it  was  a  weekly  welcome  to  every 
family  of  cultivated  taste.  In  1850,  it  was  sold  to  Anderson  &  Com- 
pany, proprietors  of  the  People's  Organ,  and  blended  with  that  paper. 

In  1846,  The  Native  American  was  started  by  V.  Ellis,  and  had  a 
fine  run  for  a  time,  but  it  soon  found  how  uncertain  is  popular  favor,  and 
finally  died  through  neglect. 

In  1848,  The  New  Era  was  established  by  Paschall  &  Ramsey,  and  at 
once  occupied  a  large  share  of  public  patronage.  Its  forte  was  its  com- 
mercial superiority,  and  in  politics  it  was  Whig.  It  was  sold  to  Thomas 
Yeatman  and  J.  B.  Crocket,  and  changed  to  the  Intelligencer,  and  after- 
ward passed  into  the  hands  of  George  K.  Budd,  and  then  was  purchased 
by  A.  S.  Mitchell  &  Co.,  the  proprietors  of  the  Evening  News,  and  blended 
with  that  paper,  which  is  still  in  existence. 

We  will  now  select  the  number  of  the  editorial  fraternity,  which  have 
been  coupled  with  the  foregoing  pages,  who  are  yet  alive,  and  who  have 
become  worthy  of  mention,  from  the  prominent  position  which  they 
occupy. 

Charles  Keemle  is  the  oldest  newspaper  publisher  and  printer,  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  is  now  the  efficient  recorder  of  the  county  of  St. 
Louis.  James  H.  Birch  resides  in  Clinton  county;  was  one  of  the  judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state,  and  then  register  of  the  land-office. 
James  B.  Bowlin  was  for  a  long  time  judge  of  the  Criminal  Court  for  St. 
Louis  district,  and  minister  to  Paraguay.  A.  R.  Corbin  was  clerk  of  Com- 
mittee of  Private  Land  Claims  at  Washington,  and  such  was  his  fitness 
for  the  office,  and  the  influence  of  his  personal  worth,  that  he  remained  its 
incumbent  for  more  than  fifteen  years,  undisturbed  by  any  administrations, 
though  advocating  political  tenets  at  variance  with  his  own.  Samuel  Treat 
is  now  an  able  jurist,  presiding  over  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  district  of 
St.  Louis.  Josiah  Anderson  is  the  present  proprietor  of  the  St.  Louis 
Price  Current.  Charles  G.  Ramsey  and  A.  S.  Mitchell  are  now  the  pro- 
prietors of  the  Evening  News.  William  McKee  is  senior  proprietor  of  the 
Missouri  Democrat,  and  Nathaniel  Paschall  is  one  of  the  proprietors  and 
editor-in-chief  of  the  Missouri  Republican,  the  oldest  sheet  in  the  state. 
Paschall  is  the  oldest  editor  with  the  harness  on  in  the  Western  country. 


180  THE   ST.    LOUIS   PKESS. 


William  Allen  has  been  register  of  the  land-office.  He  was  secretary  of 
the  Territory  of  New  Mexico,  in  1851,  judge  of  County  Court,  in  1856, 
member  of  the  Missouri  legislature,  in  1850-51,  and  is  now  associate 
editor  of  the  Missouri  Republican. 

It  will  excite  no  envy,  and  be  a  just  tribute  to  departed  worth,  if  we 
say  a  few  words  concerning  the  literary  abilities  of  the  late  Joseph  M. 
Field,  one  of  the  editors  of  the  Reveille.  He  was  connected  a  long  time 
with  the  New  Orleans  Picayune,  and  wrote  under  the  nom  de  plume  of 
"  Straws."  His  productions  under  that  signature  were  quoted  exten- 
sively by  the  journals  of  the  country,  and  his  name  became  famous  in 
literary  annals.  As  a  poet,  he  well  could  lay  claim  to  that  consciousness 
of  inspiration  uttered  by  one  of  the  Roman  bards — "Deus  est  in  nobis" 
He  Avas  the  author  of  several  plays,  became  an  actor  of  acknowledged 
merit,  and  was  the  first  manager  of  the  "Varieties  Theatre"  of  our  city. 
His  high  literary  merit  and  warm  social  qualities  are  still  interwoven 
with  the  pleasing  reminiscences  of  the  past  in  the  memory  of  many 
of  the  inhabitants.  His  brother,  M.  C.  Field,  also  deceased,  is  deserving 
of  the  same  tribute,  and  was  well  known  in  St.  Louis  as  a  sparkling  and 
classical  writer. 


THE   ST.    LOUIS   PEESS.  181 


RELIGIOUS  NEWSPAPERS  IN  ST.  LOUIS. 

[We  are  indebted  to  the  Rev.  John  Hogan,  of  St.  Louis,  for  the  follow- 
ing history  of  the  religious  newspapers  that  have  been  and  are  published 
in  St.  Louis.] 

The  first  religious  newspaper  published  in  St.  Louis,  according  to  my 
recollection,  was  The  St.  Louis  Observer,  Rev.  E.  P.  Lovejoy,  editor.  It 
was  started,  I  think,  in  1833,  and  was  the  organ  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  Some  time  after  its  commencement,  there  were  many  and  very 
strong  articles  in  favor  of  "  abolitionism"  published  in  the  paper,  which 
very  much  incensed  the  community,  and  the  consequence  was,  the  press 
and  office  were  destroyed,  and  Mr.  Lovejoy  removed  to  Alton,  where  he 
published  the  Alton  Observer. 

The  next  paper  (religious,  I  mean)  started  here — I  think,  in  1834, 
or  1835,  as  the  organ  of  the  Catholic  Church — was  The  Shepherd  of  the 
Valley.  I  do  not  now  recollect  who  was  the  editor,  nor  yet  when  the 
paper  ceased  to  exist. 

In  1839,  I  think,  another  Catholic  paper  was  started  here,  by  Mr. 
Thomas  Mullen.  My  impression  is,  its  title  was  The  Catholic  Banner.  I 
am  not  able  to  state  how  long  this  paper  was  continued. 

In  July,  1844,  Rev.  H.  Chamberlin  started  a  paper,  mainly  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  denominated  The  Herald  of  Religious 
Liberty.  Do  not  know  how  long  it  continued. 

In  August,  1851,  The  St.  Louis  Christian  Advocate,  Rev.  D.  R.  Me  An- 
ally, editor,  was  started  into  being,  and  still  exists,  as  the  organ  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  for  Missouri  and  Kansas. 

In  1844,  or  1845,  Rev.  J.  T.  Hinton,  D.  D.,  commenced  here  the  pub- 
lication of  a  paper  called  The  Missouri  Baptist,  which  was  the  avowed  organ 
of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  this  and  the  surrounding  states ;  but  I  am 
not  now  prepared  to  say  how  long  it  was  published. 

The  Western  Watchman,  in  the  interest  of  the  same  denomination 
(Baptist),  and  which  was  commenced  about  1848,  by  Rev.  T.  W.  Lynd, 
D.  D.,  as  editor,  most  probably  succeeded  to  the  former,  and  only  changed 
the  title.  Still  continued. 

In  1851,  Mr.  R.  A.  Bake  well  started  The  Shepherd  of  the  Valley,  as 
organ  of  the  Catholic  Church ;  it  existed  some  three  years. 

In  1852,  The  St.  Louis  Presbyterian,  as  the  organ  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  was  commenced  by  the  Rev.  E.  Thompson  Baird,  as  editor,  and 
is  still  published,  although  the  editor  has  been  changed. 

The  Cumberland  Presbyterian  was  commenced  to  be  published  here,  I 
think,  in  1852,  as  the  organ  of  that  denomination,  by  Rev.  J.  B.  Logan, 
editor. 

In  the  fall  of  1853,  I  think,  Rev.  D.  W.  R.  Trotter  commenced  here 
the  publication  of  a  paper  called  The  Central  Christian  Advocate,  as  the 
organ  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for  Missouri,  southern  Illinois, 


182  THE   ST.    LOUIS   PRESS. 


Iowa,  etc.  This  paper,  after  various  vicissitudes,  was  finally  adopted  as  a 
general  Conference  paper,  and  in  1856,  or  1857,  passed  into  the  editorial 
charge  of  Rev.  James  Brooks,  and  is  still  published. 

In  1855,  I  think  it  was,  J.  V.  Huntington,  LL.  D.,  commenced  the  pub- 
lication of  another  Catholic  paper,  in  place  of  The  Shepherd  of  the  Valley, 
called  The  Leader.  This  paper  only  continued  as  a  religious  paper  about 
a  year,  when  it  became  a  political  paper  under  the  same  name,  and  subse- 
quently ceased. 

In  July,  1858,  the  Observer  took  the  place  and  patronage  of  The  Cum- 
berland Presbyterian,  and  was  edited  by  Rev.  Mr.  Bird,  who  has  now 
given  place  to  Mr.  A.  F.  Cox,  who  is  editor  and  publisher. 

In  1859,  The  Western  Banner,  organ  of  the  Catholic  Church,  was  com- 
menced by  Mr.  B.  D.  Killian,  and  is  still  continued. 

In  1860,  another  paper  was  started,  called  The  Missouri  Baptist,  but  I 
do  not  know  who  its  editor  is,  nor  yet  what  particular  church  it  is  to  be 
the  organ  of. 

The  Herald  and  Era,  as  the  organ  of  the  Universalist  Church.  I  do 
not  recollect  when  the  publication  of  this  paper  commenced  here.  Mr. 
Libby  was,  I  think,  connected  with  its  origin,  but  I  have  not  been  able 
to  see  him,  to  get  the  date.  I  believe  it  is  now  published  simultaneously 
here  and  at  Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

The  above  is,  I  believe,  a  pretty  full  history  of  the  religious  newspapers 
that  have  been  and  are  published  here  in  the  English  language.  Mr.  A. 
F.  Cox  publishes  here  a  quarterly,  which  is  the  organ  of  the  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  is  as  yet,  I  think,  alone  in  that  species  of  relig- 
ious publication. 

I  deem  it  proper  to  add  the  publications  in  the  German  language  here, 
of  religious  newspapers,  and  have  purposely  kept  them  by  themselves. 

The  Lutheran,  organ  of  that  denomination,  was  commenced  here  in 
1844,  by  Rev.  F.  W.  Walter,  and  is  still  continued  under  the  same  edi- 
torial charge. 

The  Gotfs  Freund  (in  English,  God's  Friend)  was  commenced  in  1852, 
by  Mr.  Besel,  editor,  and  is  still  continued.  It  is,  I  believe,  a  Protestant 
publication,  but  I  do  not  know  to  what  denomination  it  belongs. 

Herald  des  Glaubins  (in  English,  Herald  of  Faith),  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  was  commenced  in  1852,  under  the  editorial 
charge  of  Rev.  Mr.  Vincent,  and  is  still  continued. 

Der  Frieadensbote  (in  English,  Messenger  of  Peace),  a  Protestant  pub- 
lication, under  the  auspices  of  the  Evangelical  Churches,  was  commenced 
here  in  1849,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Wull,  and  is  still  continued  as  a  publication, 
but  has  recently  been  removed  to  Marthasville,  Missouri. 

Another  publication  in  German,  denominated  the  Protestant,  has  re- 
cently been  commenced  here.  I  do"  not  know  who  the  editor  is. 

There  is  also  published  here  a  paper  called  The  Icarian,  of  which  I 
know  nothing. 


JAMES    H.    LUCAS,    ESQ. 

(p.  183.) 

ENGRAVED   EXPRESSLY    FOR  THIS    WORK    FROM    A   PHOTOGRAPH   BY   BRO\TH. 


BIOGRAPHIES. 


BIOGRAPHY  is  the  most  important  feature  of  history ;  for  the  record 
of  the  lives  of  individuals  appears  to  be  invested  with  more  vitality  and 
interest  than  the  dry  details  of  general  historical  narrative.  In  biography 
the  attention  is  not  distracted  by  a  multiplicity  of  leading  and  discon- 
nected events,  but  every  incident  that  is  related  serves  to  illustrate  the 
character  of  some  eminent  person,  and  is  another  light  by  which  we  can 
see  more  clearly  the  elements  which  form  their  being. 

The  gentlemen  whose  biographies  make  so  large  a  portion  of  this  work 
have  not  been  selected  on  account  of  their  wealth,  their  social  position, 
or  their  particular  avocation,  but  from  other  and  more  worthy  motives. 
In  the  number  are  embraced  all  of  the  professions,  and  most  of  the  other 
callings  of  life,  and  they  find  a  place  in  this  book  from  the  circumstance 
that  they  excel  in  their  respective  vocations,  are  men  of  sterling  virtue, 
and  in  their  efforts  to  establish  position  and  fortune,  they  have  given 
wealth,  stamina,  and  character  to  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  We  have  no 
favorites  to  support,  no  political  or  sectarian  interest  to  advance,  but  in 
choosing  the  subjects  of  these  biographies  have  been  guided  by  a  sense 
of  duty,  and  a  wish  to  pay  some  tribute  to  well-deserved  merit. 


JAMES    H.    LUCAS. 

JAMES  H.  LUCAS  can  boast  of  an  old  line  of  French  ancestry  who 
were  conspicuous  both  for  their  virtues  and  their  talents.  His  father, 
John  B.  C.  Lucas,  was  born  in  the  province  of  Normandy,  France,  and 
graduated  with  distinction  at  the  University  of  Caen,  and  received  the 
honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws.  Immediately  after  the  Revolution,  he 
came  to  the  United  States,  bringing  with  him  flattering  credentials  from 
Dr.  Franklin,  who  represented  the  United  States  at  Paris,  to  some  of  the 
most  distinguished  citizens  of  Philadelphia. 

Wishing  to  remove  farther  west,  Mr.  Lucas  went  to  Pittsburgh,  and 
talents  and  integrity  being  in  demand,  he  was  appointed  Judge  of  the 
District  Court,  and  soon  afterward  was  elected  member  of  Congress. 
This  was  in  the  year  1800;  and  the  same  year,  on  the  12th  of  Novem- 
ber, the  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born. 

After  representing  Allegheny  county,  in  the  state  of  Pennsylvania, 
with  honor  in  the  national  Congress,  Judge  Lucas,  in  1805,  removed  to 
the  city  of  St.  Louis,  having  previously  visited  it  in  1792,  and  became 
at  once  convinced  of  its  future  greatness.  The  state  of  Missouri  was 
at  that  time  a  territory,  and  was  termed  the  Territory  of  Louisiana,  and 
Judge  Lucas  was  appointed  by  Thomas  Jefferson  one  of  the  Judges  of  the 
Territory,  and  Land  Commissioner,  and  these  appointments  were  renewed 


186  JAMES   H.    LUCAS. 


by  the  two  subsequent  presidents,  Madison  and  Monroe,  who  were  satis- 
fied with  his  honorable  administration.  He  kept  this  responsible  position 
until  eighteen  hundred  and  twenty,  when  Missouri  was  admitted  a  state 
into  the  confederacy. 

Judge  Lucas  was  blessed  with  a  numerous  family,  and  in  1811  lost 
his  estimable  wife,  whose  virtues  had  endeared  her  to  a  large  circle  of 
friends.  One  of  his  sons,  Robert  Lucas,  was  an  officer  in  the  United 
States  army,  and  died  in  1813,  on  the  Canada  frontier.  Charles  Lucas, 
who  was  United  States  Attorney  in  the  state  of  Missouri,  was  killed  in 
a  duel  with  Col.  Thomas  H.  Benton.  Adrian  was  a  planter,  and  died 
in  1804,  William  Lucas  died  in  1837  ;  and  Judge  Lucas,  the  father,  after 
being  appointed,  by  the  younger  Adams,  Judge  of  Land  Claims  in  Flor- 
ida, died  August,  13th  1843.  Of  all  the  numerous  family,  there  is  only 
living  at  this  time,  James  H.  Lucas,  the  subject  of  this  biography,  and 
Mrs.  Hunt,  his  sister,  who  is  well  known  to  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  for 
her  many  charitable  donations.  The  early  days  of  James  H.  Lucas  were 
spent  upon  a  farm,  and  it  is  probable  that  he  owes  to  that  circumstance 
much  of  that  exuberance  of  health  which  he  has  always  enjoyed.  His 
father,  who  was  highly  educated,  directly  the  physical  system  of  James  had 
become  strong  by  wholesome  exercise  on  the  farm,  sent  him  to  school, 
and  finally  to  Jefferson  College  in  Pennsylvania,  where  he  remained  three 
years ;  and  then  to  St.  Charles  College  in  Kentucky,  at  which  he  staid 
eighteen  months.  After  completing  his  education,  James  H.  Lucas,  de- 
sirous of  still  farther  pursuing  his  studies,  resolved  to  teach  school,  at 
which  he  could,  at  the  same  time,  earn  a  livelihood.  He  commenced  the 
profession  of  teacher  in  the  town  of  Hudson,  state  of  New  York,  but 
did  not  long  remain  in  that  honorable  and  useful  avocation.  In  that  city 
he  commenced  the  study  of  law  under  Judge  Talmadge  and  J.  B.  Dexter. 
He,  however,  did  not  like  the  East,  and  soon  returned  to  his  home  in  St. 
Louis,  and  then  removed  to  the  territory  of  Arkansas,  where  he  con- 
tinued teaching  school  and  reading  law,"  till  1821,  when  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  privileges  of  an  attorney. 

May  10th,  1832,  Mr.  Lucas  married  Miss  Mary  E.  Desruisseaux,  the 
daughter  of  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Arkansas,  who  had  removed 
from  the  town  of  Cahokia  of  Illinois ;  and  from  the  time  of  his  marriage 
until  the  year  1837,  he  devoted  his  attention  to  farming,  and  was  very 
successful  in  the  pursuit,  having  a  very  extensive  and  fertile  tract  of 
land.  On  the  death  of  William  Lucas,  his  brother,  in  1837,  Judge  Lucas, 
his  father,  wrote  him  word  to  come  and  settle  in  St.  Louis,  as  he  was 
the  only  son  that  was  living,  and  he  was  anxious  that  he  should  be  near 
him.  He  then,  according  to  the  wishes  of  his  father,  removed  to  St. 
Louis,  where  he  remained  until  the  dissolution  of  his  surviving  parent  in 
1843. 

Mr.  Lucas  has  always  been  opposed  to  the  turbulent  life  of  politics, 
but  was  drawn  by  the  persuasion  of  his  friends  upon  the  political 
arena,  and  in  1844  he  was  elected  to  the  state  Senate  of  Missouri,  where 
he  served  four  years  with  honor  to  himself  and  usefulness  to  the  state ; 
during  this  time  was  enacted  the  well-known  Lucas  law,  which  much  sim- 
plified the  confused  process  incident  to  land  claim*.  After  his  term  of 
service  had  expired,  he  retired  from  political  life,  and  has  been  sedulously 
engaged  since  that  time  in  attending  to  the  large  business  connected 


JAMES   H.    LUCAS.  187 


with  his  immense  property,  and  in  various  ways  has  been  identified  with 
the  progressive  advance  of  St.  Louis.  He  was  the  early  friend  of  the 
railroads  in  Missouri,  and  in  every  available  manner  advocated  their 
utility,  and  assisted  in  their  completion,  while  many  old  fogies  laughed 
at  the  idea  of  any  thing  better  for  the  country  than  the  turnpike  and  the 
wagon.  So  as  to  give  force  to  his  advocacy  to  internal  improvements, 
he  was  the  first  to  subscribe  to  the  stock  in  the  large  sum  of  $33,000,  and 
this  generous  commencement  by  one  whose  business  foresight  was  almost 
infallible,  quickly  made  railroad  stock  a  hobby,  and  the  digging  for  the 
roads  soon  commenced. 

Mr.  Lucas  projected  and  built  Lucas  Market,  and  laid  out  that  hand- 
some portion  of  the  city  known  as  Lucas  Place,  and  which  has  become 
the  most  recherche  neighborhood  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis. 

All  corporations,  in  the  election  of  their  officers,  are  always  careful  to 
install  those  who  have  the  character  and  influence  to  control  the  respect 
of  public  opinion ;  and  Mr.  Lucas  was  appointed  the  President  of  the 
Pacific  Railroad  Company,  and  by  his  moral  worth  and  known  wealth, 
and  above  all  by  his  business  capacity,  did  much  for  its  advancement. 
After  filling  that  responsible  position  for  some  time,  he  resigned  his 
office,  and  started  on  a  European  tour.  On  his  return  to  St.  Louis,  he 
was  solicited  to  fill  many  responsible  positions,  and  became  director  and 
an  extensive  stockholder  in  many  of  the  various  moneyed  institutions  of 
the  city. 

In  1851,  Mr.  Lucas  established  his  banking-house,  which  had  a  branch 
both  in  New  York  and  San  Francisco,  and  such  was  the  universal 
confidence  that  the  public  had  in  the  institution  of  which  he  was  the 
head,  that  at  one  time  his  bank  in  St.  Louis  alone  contained  deposits  to 
the  enormous  amount  of  more  than  two  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars. 
After  some  little  time,  Mr.  Lucas  discontinued  his  house  in  San  Fran- 
cisco. 

In  the  great  financial  panic  in  1857,  Mr.  Lucas,  with  every  other  bank 
in  St.  Louis,  had  to  yield  to  the  unnatural  convulsion  of  affairs,  and  for 
a  short  time  suspended  payment,  and  it  shows  how  boundless  was  the 
terror  of  the  community,  from  their  being  guilty  of  the  folly  of  running 
upon  a  bank  whose  proprietor  was  worth  millions  of  dollars  in  real  estate 
in  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  However,  Mr.  Lucas  gave  his  notes  to  his 
creditors,  and  in  a  little  while  his  boundless  resources  becoming  available, 
he  was  anxious  to  pay  off  all  demands,  but  to  this  day  many  of  his  notes 
are  carefully  kept  in  the  drawers  of  thriving  citizens,  who  prefer  them 
to  any  mortgage  on  fee-simple  property  in  the  city.  Mr.  Lucas  has  had 
a  large  family  of  children,  eight  of  whom  are  now  living.  One  of  his 
daughters  married  Dr.  J.  B.  Johnson,  an  eminent  physician  of  the  city. 

The  business  habits  for  which  he  was  always  remarkable  Mr.  Lucas 
still  adheres  to,  and  can  be  found  constantly  at  his  counting-room,  ac- 
tively engaged  in  the  details  of  affairs,  naturally  arising  from  his  immense 
possessions,  and  is  courteous  and  unassuming  at  all  times,  and  to  every 
one  who  makes  a  demand  upon  his  valuable  time.  Wherever  he  goes  in 
the  city  of  St.  Louis,  he  can  see  in  the  splendid  buildings  which  he  has 
erected  monuments  of  his  taste  and  industry,  and  when  he  dies,  and  the 
turf  is  green  above  his  "  narrow  house,"  Lucas  Market  and  Lucas  Place 
will  hand  his  name  to  posterity. 


ROBERT    A.   BARNES, 

PRESIDENT    OF    THE    BANK    OF   THE    STATE    OF    MISSOURI. 

ROBERT  A.  BARNES  was  born  November  29,  1808,  in  the  city  of 
Washington,  District  of  Columbia.  He  is  descended  from  an  old  Eng- 
lish family  of  great  antiquity,  who  emigrated  from  the  county  of  Norfolk 
as  early  as  1662,  and  settled  near  Port  Tobacco,  the  county  seat  of 
Charles  county,  state  of  Maryland.  There  is  still  in  England  a  large 
family  bearing  that  name. 

Mr.  Barnes  was  designed  by  his  parents  for  commercial  pursuits,  and 
after  receiving  a  good  English  education,  he  was  sent  to  his  uncle  in  the 
city  of  Louisville,  Kentucky,  who  instilled  into  him  that  business  educa- 
tion, and  those  business  principles  which  have  so  contributed  toward  his 
success  in  life,  and  won  the  respect  of  the  community.  He  remained  in 
Louisville  from  1822  till  1830,  and  then  came  to  St.  Louis,  which  he 
believed,  from  the  position  she  occupied,  must  eventually  become  the  great 
emporium  of  the  West,  and  one  of  the  most  important  cities  in  the  Union. 

Mr.  Barnes  was  thrown  early  in  life  upon  his  own  resources.  He  could 
hope  for  nothing  unless  through  his  own  exertions.  Even  if  his  inclina- 
tion had  not  led  him  to  form  habits  of  industry,  economy,  and  manage- 
ment, necessity  would  have  compelled  him.  On  his  arrival  at  St.  Louis, 
the  first  position  he  filled  was  that  of  clerk  in  the  house  of  Messrs. 
Sproule  &  Buchanan,  who  were  engaged  in  the  general  merchant  business. 
After  leaving  them,  he  entered  the  house  of  Messrs.  Vairin  &  Kiel, 
After  leaving  the  employ  of  the  last-mentioned  firm,  Mr.  Barnes  having 
gathered  some  little  money,  commenced  business  on  his  own  account,  and 
was  at  one  time  connected  with  Captain  John  C.  Swan.  He  has  been 
gradually  growing  since  that  period  in  his  business  relations,  until  he  now 
owns  one  of  the  most  extensive  wholesale  groceries  in  the  city,  and  has 
amassed  a  considerable  fortune,  in  no  other  manner  than  from  the  legiti- 
mate profits  of  his  business. 

In  January,  1 845,  Mr.  Barnes  was  married  to  Miss  Louise  De  Mun,  of 
St.  Louis.  He  has  held  the  position  of  director  in  the  Bank  of  the  State 
of  Missouri  for  nineteen  years,  and  so  highly  is  he  esteemed  for  his  integ- 
rity, his  business  and  financial  qualifications,  that  he  has  recently  been 
elected  president  of  this  most  extensive  banking  institution  in  the  state. 


ROBERT    A.    BARNES,    ESQ. 

(p.  1S9.) 

ENGRAVED   EXPUE88L.Y   FOR  T1II8   WORK   FROM    A   PHOTOGRAl'JI   BY   BROWN. 


LOUIS    A    BENOIST.ESQ. 

(p.191.) 

ENGRAVED   EXPRESSLY   FOB  THIS  WORK   FROM   A   PHOTOGRAPH   BY   BROWS 


LOUIS  A.   BENOIST. 

Louis  A.  BENOIST  is  one  of  the  few  citizens  of  St.  Louis  who  can 
boast  of  having  first  seen  the  light  in  its  precincts.  He  was  born  in  St. 
Louis  August  13,  1803.  His  father,  Frangois  M.  Benoist,  was  a  native  of 
Montreal,  Canada,  and  his  mother,  who  is  still  living,  is  daughter  of 
Charles  Sanguinette,  who  came  to  St.  Louis  at  the  early  day* when  the 
French  surrendered  Fort  de  Chartres  to  the  English,  according  to  the 
terms  of  the  treaty  of  1763.*  Francois  M.  Benoist,  according  to  the  cus- 
toms of  most  of  the  early  French,  was  a  trader  with  the  Indians,  and 
removed  from  Canada  to  St.  Louis  in  1*790,  so  as  to  carry  on  the  peltry 
trade  with  the  numerous  tribes  who  inhabited  the  banks  of  the  Missouri 
and  Mississippi  rivers. 

Louis  A.  Benoist  received  from  his  father  all  the  opportunities  of  edu- 
cation which  the  new  settlement  at  that  time  afforded.  He  went  to 
school  to  Judge  Tompkins,  one  of  the  territorial  judges,  who  kept  for  a 
short  period  a  school,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  went  to  St.  Thomas 
College,  Kentucky,  kept  by  a  Dominican  priest,  where  he  remained  for 
two  years,  and  returning  to  St.  Louis,  he  commenced  reading  medicine 
under  the  instruction  of  Dr.  Todson.  After  a  trial  of  two  years,  medicine 
not  being  agreeable  to  his  taste,  he  commenced  the  study  of  law  in  the 
office  of  Horatio  Cozens. 

There  was  a  good  deal  of  conveyancing  done  at  that  period  in  St.  Louis, 
and  Louis  A.  Benoist  got  employment  in  the  office  of  Pierre  Provenchere, 
a  conveyancer  of  some  note,  which  furnished  him  the  means  of  continu- 
ing his  legal  studies.  In  1823,  he  went  to  Europe  to  look  after  an  estate 
belonging  to  his  parents,  and  fully  accomplished  his  object ;  but  on  his 
return  voyage,  was  wrecked  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  After  some  suffering 
and  much  detention,  he  finally  reached  St.  Louis,  when  he  commenced 
to  buy  and  sell  real  estate,  loan  money,  etc.  He  pursued  this  business 
for  a  short  time,  and  in  1832  opened  an  exchange  office,  in  which,  in 
connection  with  the  banking  business,  he  vended  lottery  tickets,  at  that 
time  a  favorite  mode  with  all  classes  of  trying  the  fitful  favors  of  fortune. 
This  was  the  first  banking-house  established  in  St.  Louis,  and  that  very 
spot  where  he  first  opened,  though  in  a  different  building,  Mr.  Benoist 
still  carries  on  the  banking  business. 

In  1838,  the  business  of  Mr.  Benoist  had  increased  to  such  an  extent, 
that  he  deemed  it  practicable  to  establish  a  branch  house  in  New  Orleans, 
which  he  did  under  the  firm  of  Benoist  &  Hackny,  and  which  is  the 
large  banking-house  now  known  in  the  Crescent  city  as  Benoist,  Shaw 
&  Co.  In  1842,  there  was  a  tight  pressure  in  the  money-market,  and 
the  banking-house  in  St.  Louis  was  forced  to  suspend,  though  in  one 
month  after,  its  doors  were  thrown  open,  and  ten  per  cent,  was  paid  on 
all  liabilities.  The  branch  bank  in  New  Orleans  did  not  suspend. 

Mr.  Benoist  may  truly  be  said  to  be  one  of  the  favorite  sons  of  fortune. 
The  moment  that  he  commenced  the  great  battle  of  life  his  course  has 

*  Mr.  Benoist  is  recently  deceased. 


194  LOUIS   A.    BENOIST. 


been  onward.  Whatever  he  has  touched  has  prospered,  and  he  is  now 
numbered  among  the  most  wealthy  citizens  of  St.  Louis. 

During  the  great  panic  of  1857,  the  banking-house  of  Benoist  &  Com- 
pany outrode  the  storm,  which  compelled  almost  every  private  banker 
and  corporate  banking  institution  in  the  Union  to  succumb  for  a  while 
to  the  force  of  circumstances.  It  did  not  suspend,  nor  did  the  one  in 
New  Orleans. 

Mr.  Benoist,  as  has  been  seen,  was  not  born  to  affluence,  but  began 
from  an  humble  commencement,  and  owes  alone  to  his  efforts  and  indus- 
try his  present  position  and  fortune.  What  he  has  done  can  be  done 
again  if  the  same  method  be  used  for  its  accomplishment.  Any  young 
man  who  will  copy  his  perseverance,  economy,  and  industry,  and  like 
him  be  sedulous  in  preserving  his  reputation  and  credit,  must  attain 
affluence  and  reach  a  respectable  position.  Who  properly  sows  in  spring 
must  reap  a  harvest,  and*  he  who  in  youth  commences  life  with  the 
practice  of  temperance,  industry,  and  economy,  must  gather  bountifully 
of  the  fruit  they  naturally  produce. 

Mr.  Benoist  has  been  three  times  married,  and  has  had  seventeen 
children,  ten  of  whom  are  living.  His  first  wife  was  Miss  Barton,  of 
Kaskaskia ;  his  second,  Miss  Hackny,  of  Pennsylvania ;  and  the  third,  Miss 
Sarah  E.  Wilson,  daughter  of  John  Wilson,  of  New  Jersey.  In  1851,  he 
took  with  him  on  a  European  tour  his  eldest  son,  Sanguinette  H.  Benoist. 
It  was  during  the  World's  Fair  at  London,  when  the  English  capital  was 
thronged  with  strangers.  Born  in  St.  Louis,  Mr.  Benoist  has  witnessed 
all  the  wonderful  changes  in  his  native  city  since  his  boyhood.  His  youth, 
his  manhood,  all  of  his  business  relations,  have  been  identified  with 
St.  Louis — he  is  one  of  the  old  landmarks,  and  no  one  better  than  he  is 
known  and  appreciated. 


COLONEL    JOSHUA    B.    BRANT. 

(1>.  195.) 

ENGRAVED   EXPRESSLY    FOB  THIS   WORK   FROM    A    I'HOTCKiRAPII    1«Y    BROWN. 


COLONEL   JOSHUA    B.    BRANT. 

COLONEL  JOSHUA  B.  BRANT  was  born  April  8th,  1790,  in  the  town  of 
Hampshire,  Hampton  county,  Massachusetts.  His  father,  John  Brant, 
was  a  gallant  soldier  in  the  trying  times  of  the  Revolution,  and  lived  to 
the  remarkable  age  of  ninety-nine  years  and  three  months,  dying  in  the 
year  1852.  His  mother's  maiden  name  was  Bbsworth,  of  a  large  and 
respectable  family  of  that  name  who  still  reside  in  Massachusetts. 

The  early  days  of  young  Joshua  Brant  were  passed  in  the  healthful  exer- 
cise of  farming  avocations,  and  he  ploughed  the  land  and  drove  oxen  till  he 
reached  eighteen  years  of  age.  The  schooling  that  he  obtained  he  re- 
ceived at  night,  the  day  being  devoted  to  bodily  labor.  At  the  age  of 
eighteen,  Joshua  Brant  determined  to  leave  the  wholesome  trammels  of 
parental  authority,  and  try  his  fortune  in  the  world  uncontrolled  and 
unguided  except  through  the  agency  of  his  own  faculties.  When  he  left 
home  his  capital  amounted  to  thirteen  dollars  in  cash.  He  went  to  Troy, 
New  York,  and  engaged  in  a  drug  store,  kept  by  Erastus  Corning,  for 
twelve  dollars  per  month  and  board;  this  gentleman  has  since  become 
President  of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad,  and  a  member  of  the 
national  Congress. 

Wishing  to  enter  upon  some  occupation  where  he  could  advance  more 
rapidly  in  worldly  thrift,  Joshua  B.  Brant  removed  to  Dutchess  county, 
New  York,  'and  in  partnership  with  a  Mr.  Snyder,  commenced  the  distil- 
ling business,  and  in  a  short  time  amassed  the  sum  of  seven  hundred 
dollars.  When  the  war  of  1812  became  known  through  his  neighbor- 
hood, he  was  busily  engaged  in  the  harvest  field,  cradling  wheat;  but 
burning  to  serve  the  country,  for  whose  independence  his  father  had 
fought,  he  left  all  employment,  and  prepared  himself  for  the  battle-field. 
He  joined  a  detachment  of  troops  at  Rhinebeck,  commanded  by  Captain 
H.  W.  Odell,  that  were  proceeding  to  rendezvous  at  Greenbush,  where 
he  received  the  appointment  of  sergeant,  February,  12,  1813,  in  the 
twenty-third  regiment,  commanded  by  Colonel  Brown.  From  Green- 
bush  the  troops  proceeded  to  Fort  George,  where  there  was  a  hard-fought 
battle ;  the  vanguard  of  the  American  army  being  led  by  Colonel  Scott, 
now  General  Scott,  and  commander-in-chief  of  the  United  States  army. 
From  Fort  George  the  army  proceeded  to  "Forty  Mile  Creek,"  where 
another  battle  was  fought,  and  then  retired  into  winter-quarters  at  Platts- 
burg. 

During  the  war  of  1812,  Joshua  B.  Brant  was  in  other  battles  than 
those  wo  have  mentioned.  He  was  in  the  battles  of  Lundy's  Lane,  Fort 
George,  Salter,  and  Fort  Erie.  In  July,  1815,  he  was  appointed  by  General 
Brown  ensign  of  his  regiment,  which  appointment  was  confirmed  by  the 
authorities  at  Washington  the  subsequent  month,  and  the  same  year  he 
was  made  second  lieutenant,  James  Madison  being  president,  and  James 
Monroe  secretary  of  war.  During  the  intervening  years  from  1815  to 
1838,  he  passed  through  all  of  the  progressive  stages  of  military  promo- 
tion under  Presidents  Madison,  Monroe,  Adams,  and  Jackson,  until  he 
7 


198  COLONEL   JOSHUA   B.    BE  ANT. 

was  appointed  by  President  Van  Buren  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  United 
States  Army,  in  1838. 

Colonel  Brant  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1823,  but  was  engaged  in  military 
duty  until  1839,  when  he  resigned.  He  took  part  in  the  various  In- 
dian wars  in  the  West,  and  was  also  in  Florida.  Since  1839  he  has  de- 
voted himself  to  his  private  pursuits,  and  was  the  first  who  had  the 
spirit  and  enterprise  to  commence  the  erection  of  large  buildings  in  St. 
Louis.  He  has  always  been  a  firm  friend  of  his  city,  and  by  his  individ- 
ual efforts  has  contributed  much  to  its  adornment  and  prosperity. 

Colonel  Brant  has  been  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Miss  Elizabeth 
Lovejoy,  of  Stratford,  Connecticut,  whom  he  married  January,  1818. 
She  was  the  sister-in-law  to  General  Leavenworth,  so  well  known  in  the 
West.  She  bore  him  two  children,  one  of  whom  is  Henry  B.  Brant,  of 
Booneville,  Missouri.  His  second  wife,  whom  he  married  December 
31st,  1829,  was  Miss  Sarah  Benton,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Mary  Ben- 
ton,  and  niece  of  the  illustrious  statesman  and  author,  Thomas  H.  Benton, 
who  for  many  years  represented  the  state  of  Missouri  at  Washington. 
Two  children  were  the  issue  of  this  marriage,  and  a  daughter  is  married  to 
Doctor  James  McDowell,  son  of  Governor  McDowell,  of  Virginia,  who  is 
now  consul-general  at  Constantinople. 

Colonel  Brant,  by  his  business  habits  and  talents  has  amassed  a  large 
fortune ;  yet,  though  he  has  been  frugal,  he  never  has  been  parsimonious 
in  his  manner  of  life,  and  with  a  liberal  hand  has  dispensed  his  charities. 
He  is  a  regular  attendant  at  church,  and  for  many  years  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Presbyterian  persuasion.  Whatever  of  wealth  and  social  posi- 
tion he  has  achieved,  he  owes  it  all  to  himself.  He  has  been  the  archi- 
tect of  his  own  fortune,  and  his  life  will  illustrate  the  old  maxim,  "  where 
there  is  a  will  there  is  a  way."  Without  injuring  any  one  he  has  accom- 
plished much ;  and  as  a  soldier,  a  citizen,  and  a  man,  he  deserves  the 
esteem  of  posterity. 


CAPTAIN    JOHN    J.    ROE. 

(p.  137.) 

ENGRAVED    EXPRESSLY   FOR   THIS   WORK   FROM    A   PHOTOGRAPH   BY    BROWN. 


CAPTAIN    JOHN    J.    ROE. 

JOHN  J.  ROB  was  born  April  18th,  1809,  near  Buffalo,  New  York.  In 
1815,  his  father  removed  to  Cincinnati,  then  to  Kentucky,  and  then  to 
Rising  Sun,  Indiana,  where  he  owned  a  ferry,  and  died  in  1834. 

After  a  few  years  spent  in  the  country  school-rooms,  John  J.  Roe  as- 
sisted his  father  in  the  labor  of  the  farm,  and  also  in  the  management  of 
the  ferry  which  he  conducted.  Two  years  previous  to  his  father's  death 
he  went  to  the  city  of  Cincinnati,  and  became  engaged  in  various  situa- 
tions on  steamboats,  and  was  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  most  efficient 
boatmen  on  the  Ohio  River,  and  on  one  occasion  made  a  large  profit  for 
his  employer,  by  acting  as  supercargo  to  Jacksonville,  Tennessee. 

John  J.  Roe,  by  his  attention  to  business,  and  judgment,  soon  won  the 
confidence  and  respect  of  all  who  knew  him ;  and  he  gradually  worked 
himself  up  the  ladder  of  life  until  he  became  captain  of  a  steamboat,  and 
then  owner.  He  then  traded  in  boats  for  several  years,  commanding  some 
of  the  finest  that  ran  on  the  Ohio  River ;  and  at  one  time  did  a  very 
lucrative  business  on  Green  River,  in  Kentucky.  He  built  several  fine 
boats ;  and  having  amassed  a  considerable  fortune,  he  retired  from  busi- 
ness in  1844,  and  removed  to  St.  Louis.  After  his  removal  to  St.  Louis 
he  became  largely  engaged  in  the  commission  business,  and  the  firm  of 
Roe  &  Kercheval,  then  Hewitt,  Roe  &  Co.,  then  John  J  Roe  <k  Co.,  were 
well  known  to  all  the  business  world  of  the  West. 

The  position  which  Captain  Roe  has  achieved  he  owes  to  his  own 
efforts ;  and  to  his  credit  let  it  be  told,  that  on  the  demise  of  his  father, 
he  was  the  support  for  many  years  of  the  whole  family.  In  1837,  he 
married  Miss  Wright,  daughter  of  Thomas  Wright,  of  Cincinnati,  and  no 
one, more  than  he,  appreciates  the  quiet  enjoyment  of  domestic  happiness. 
His  rollicking  good  humor  has  made  him  most  popular  in  the  social 
circle,  and  his  known  business  qualifications  have  caused  him  to  be  elected 
to  fill  many  important  functions.  He  has  been  a  director  in  the  Mer- 
chants' Insurance  Company,  is  a  director  in  the  State  Saving  Institution, 
and  President  of  the  United  States  Insurance  Company.  By  an  industry 
that  has  never  wavered,  by  an  integrity  that  is  unimpeached,  he  has 
gained  esteem,  position,  and  wealth,  and  if  the  youth  of  the  rising 
generation  would  go  and  do  likewise,  they  would  in  time  achieve  what 
he  has  done.  One  of  the  finest  boats  on  the  river  is  called  by  his  name. 


GENERAL  NATHAN  RANNEY. 

GENERAL  NATHAN  RANNEY  was  born  in  Bethlehem,  a  little  village  in 
the  state  of  Connecticut,  on  the  27th  of  April,  1797.  Reared  in  respec- 
table circumstances,  his  early  life  was  devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  his 
mind,  and  to  the  inculcation  of  those  business  habits  which  have  since 
made  him  so  successful  in  life. 

In  1812,  when  England  sent  to  our  shores  her  veteran  armies,  just 
victorious  over  the  able  marshals  of  Napoleon  in  Spain,  young  Ran- 
ney,  then  only  sixteen  years  of  age,  animated  by  the  patriotic  fire  which 
burned  so  vividly  at  that  time  in  American  bosoms,  enlisted  in  the  army 
contrary  to  the  remonstrance  of  his  friends,  and  refused  to  accept  of  a 
discharge  which  was  procured  for  him  by  his  paternal  uncle,  who  was  a 
colonel  in  the  army ;  he  had  enlisted  to  fight  for  his  country,  and  he  was 
determined  to  do  it. 

This  desire  of  serving  his  country  in  battle  was  soon  gratified ;  for  he 
was  one  of  three  hundred  Americans  who  cut  their  way  through  a  greatly 
superior  British  force  near  Plattsburgh,  and  was  one  of  the  forlorn  hope 
who  crossed  the  Saranac  river  right  under  the  range  of  a  British  battery 
to  a  thick  underbrush  of  dry  pine.  He  was  severely  wounded  in  this  gal- 
lant exploit;  but  in  a  little  while  after,  wishing  to  distinguish  himself  by 
an  act  still  more  daring,  he  took  twenty  choice  men,  and  in  the  dead 
hour  of  the  night  successfully  surprised  a  town  in  possession  of  a  large 
British  force,  and  carried  off  three  prisoners  of  rank,  without  the  loss  of 
a  single  man. 

The  gallant  bearing  of  young  Ranney  soon  won  for  him  the  respect  of 
his  commanding  officers,  and  he  was  quickly  promoted,  first  as  a  sergeant, 
and  afterward  as  a  provost  marshal ;  and  his  conduct  throughout  the 
whole  war  showed  that  patriotism  alone  influenced  his  services,  and  not 
a  love  of  military  promotion.  A  few  years  after  leaving  the  army,  desir- 
ous of  making  for  himself  a  name  and  fortune,  he  came  to  St.  Louis  in 
1819,  and  commenced  commercial  pursuits. 

In  the  year  1827,  two  important  events  occurred  in  his  life,  and  which 
have  greatly  administered  to  his  happiness — he  married  in  that  year  Miss 
Amelia  J.  Shackford — and  became  likewise  wedded  to  the  Presbyterian 
church.  His  marriage  has  been  blessed  with  a  large  family  of  children, 
and  in  the  church  of  which  he  is  such  an  efficient  member,  he  has 
long  been  an  elder.  One  of  his  daughters  married  Charles  Hale,  of  St. 
Louis. 

Though  born  in  an  Eastern  state,  and  under  a  cold  clime,  General  Ranney 
is  neither  a  Northern  nor  a  Southern  maniac,  but  a  conservative  man,  and  his 
heart  is  as  warm  as  a  summer's  sun.  In  1836,  General  Ranney  was  ap- 
pointed by  Governor  Dunklin,  Brigadier-General  in  the  Missouri  Militia. 
In  1842,  he  was  President  pro  tempore  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  and  for 
years  President  of  the  Board  of  Public  Schools.  In  1851,  he  delivered 
an  eloquent  address  at  Burlington,  Iowa,  declaring  himself  a  Union 
man.  In  1855,  he  addressed  the  convention  of  the  soldiers  of  1812  at 


GENERAL  NATHAN  RANNEY. 

(p.  203.) 

ENGF.AVED   KXPKI'SSLY   FOR   THIS   WORK    FROM    A   I'JIOTOtiRAl'II    BY    BROWN. 


GENERAL   NATHAN   EANNEY.  205 

Philadelphia.  In  1856,  he  spoke  at  a  large  American  meeting  in  St. 
Louis;  and  there  are  very  few  his  equal  in  a  stump  speech.  In  1857, 
when  the  financial  panic  caused  the  money  of  other  states  to  be  refused, 
he  called  a  meeting  of  merchants,  and  restored  confidence  in  foreign  cur- 
rency, and  thereby  saved  many  frightened  individuals  from  falling  a  prey 
to  the  money  sharks,  who,  on  such  occasions,  are  always  ready  to  make  "a 
glorious  feast. 

In  his  military  career,  General  Ranney  showed  himself  ready  and  fear- 
less in  action,  patriotic  in  his  aims,  and  kind  and  sympathizing  as  a  soldier 
and  as  an  officer.  In  political  life  he  is  never  violent,  but  while  he  is 
firm  and  frank  in  the  expression  of  his  principles,  he  is,  at  all  times,  cour- 
teous to  all  holding  opinions  different  from  his  own.  In  the  civil  positions 
which  he  has  filled,  he  has  been  marked  for  his  attention,  his  industry, 
and  his  clear  and  discriminating  judgment;  and  any  office  he  holds,  he 
never  makes  it  a  sinecure,  but  holds  it  as  a  responsible  trust,  and  attends, 
with  the  most  scrupulous  exactness,  to  its  minutest  details.  As  a  friend,  he 
is  confiding  and  generous;  and  as  a  merchant,  his  present  affluence, 
gathered  amid  the  uncertain  fluctuations  of  commercial  life,  is  an  evidence 
of  the  possession  of  the  requisites  adapted  to  that  respectable  but  preca- 
rious pursuit. 

With  the  exception  of  Mr.  Henry  Von  Phul,  senior,  General  Ranney  is 
the  oldest  merchant  in  St.  Louis  now  living,  and  the  store  and  warehouse 
of  Shackford  and  Ranney  were,  for  a  long  time,  the  only  buildings  of  the 
kind  on  the  levee,  consequently,  he  has  been  a  resident  of  St.  Louis  from 
its  infancy,  and  his  exertions  and  example  have  helped  its  growth  and 
assisted  its  advance.  Though  upward  of  threescore  years  of  age,  from 
his  regular  life  he  is  still  hale  and  vigorous,  and  is  now  the  cashier  and 
general  agent  of  the  St.  Louis,  Cairo,  and  New  Orleans  Railroad  line  of 
steamers,  and  is  always  to  be  found,  during  business  hours,  giving  his  at- 
tention to  the  important  position  he  knows  so  well  how  to  fill.  He  is 
President  of  the  Missouri  Bible  Society,  and  in  all  of  the  relations  of  his 
diversified  life  there  is  not  a  stain  resting  upon  his  character. 


THERON   BARNUM. 

THKRON  BARNUM  was  born  April  23d,  1803,  in  Addison  county,  Ver- 
mont. His  father,  Stephen  Barnum,  was  a  farmer  in  humble  circum- 
stances, and  had  the  usual  blessing  of  a  poor  man,  a  round  dozen  of  chil- 
dren. He  emigrated  from  Connecticut,  in  1808,  to  Susquehanna  county, 
Pennsylvania,  where  he  continued  his  agricultural  pursuits.  Young 
Theron  Barnum  worked  on  the  farm,  and  assisted  his  father  until  he  was 
seventeen  years  of  age,  receiving  in  the  mean  time  the  indifferent  instruc- 
tion usually  afforded  by  a  country  school.  Wishing  to  cultivate  his  mind, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  earn  a  livelihood,  young  Barnum  at  the  age  of 
seventeen  commenced  teaching  school,  which  took  up  six  hours  a  day 
of  his  time ;  and  so  desirous  was  he  for  mental  improvement,  that  he 
walked  at  night  the  distance  of  eight  miles  to  a  school  taught  by  a  pro- 
ficient scholar,  where  he  could  receive  proper  instruction  in  English  gram- 
mar, and  the  more  advanced  branches  of  English  education. 

For  several  years  he  pursued  the  vocation  of  teaching,  and  finding 
himself  then,  by  his  education,  qualified  to  fill  with  credit  almost  any 
position,  in  1824  he  went  to  Wilkesbarre,  and  engaged  as  clerk  in  a  store. 
He  staid  at  that  town  till  the  year  1827,  when  he  went  to  Baltimore  at 
the  request  of  his  uncle,  the  late  David  Barnum,  who  gave  Barnuin's 
Hotel  in  Baltimore  the  deserved  fame  which  it  so  long  bore,  of  being  "the 
best  hotel  in  the  United  States."  With  much  advantage  to  himself,  he 
remained  with  his  uncle  in  the  capacity  of  confidential  clerk,  and  became, 
under  his  able  instruction,  well  instructed  in  the  mystery  of  keeping  a 
first  class  hotel.  During  the  time  he  was  with  his  uncle,  there  was  a 
great  celebration  in  Baltimore,  caused  by  the  opening  of  the  first  fifteen 
miles  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  to  Ellicotts'  Mills.  Mr.  Barnum, 
with  many  thousands  of  others,  visited  the  place,  and,  it  being  at  that  time 
a  terminus,  he  determined  to  put  into  practical  effect  the  experience  he  had 
gained  in  hotel-keeping,  and  opened  what  was  long  known  as  the  Pa- 
tapsco  Hotel.  So  long  as  Ellicotts'  Mills  was  a  terminus  the  hotel  did  a 
swimming  business.  It  was  there  that  the  stages  received  their  passen- 
gers for  the  national  road  across  the  mountains,  and  on  the  arrival  of  the 
cars,  the  passengers  for  the  West  breakfasted  with  Mr.  Barnum.  In  the 
summer,  hundreds  of  citizens,  attracted  by  the  reputation  of  the  hotel, 
and  the  natural  loveliness  of  the  romantic  country,  would  come  from  the 
city  in  the  morning,  and  after  spending  the  day,  would  return  in  the 
evening. 

Mr.  Barnum  remained  at  Ellicotts'  Mills  so  long  as  it  was  a  terminus 
and  a  harvest  was  to  be  gathered ;  and  when  these  essentials  ceased  to 
exist,  he  sold  out  his  establishment  to  Mr.  A.  McLaughlin,  now  one  of  the 
proprietors  of  Barnnm's  City  Hotel,  Baltimore.*  Whilst  at  Ellicotts' 
Mills,  in  1832,  he  married  Miss  Mary  Lay  Chadwick,  daughter  of  Captain 
Chadwick,  of  Lime,  Connecticut,  who  was  a  captain  for  some  time  on  one 

*  Mr.  Andrew  M'Laughlin  disposed  of  his  fine  hotel  at  Ellicotts'  Mills  to  much  ad- 
vantage, owing  to  the  prestige  and  success  which  it  had  attained. 


THERON    BARNUM,  ESQ. 

(p.  207.) 

ENORAVEn   EXPRESSLY   FOR  THIS   WORK   FROM    A   PHOTOGRAPH   BY   LONG. 


THERON    BARNTJM.  209 

of  the  large  packets  that  coursed  between  New  York  and  Liverpool. 
The  fruit  of  this  marriage  was  two  sons,  Freeman  and  Robert,  both  of 
whom  are  living. 

In  1835,  Mr.  Barnum  removed  to  Philadelphia,  and  bought  the  Phila- 
delphia Hotel,  located  in  Arch  street,  but  having  long  before  thought  of 
arranging  his  business  and  starting  for  the  West,  he  sold  out  in  1838, 
determining  to  settle  in  St.  Louis,  whose  great  future,  from  the  force  of 
location,  he  knew  was  evident.  On  his  way  to  St.  Louis  he  was  induced 
to  stop  at  Terre  Haut,  a  thriving  town  in  Indiana,  and  take  charge  of  a 
hotel  owned  by  Mr.  Chauncey  Kose  ;  however,  he  did  not  long  remain  in 
that  place,  feeling  convinced  that  though  it  would  become  a  town  of 
most  respectable  size  and  business,  it  would  never  support  the  kind  of 
hotel  of  which  he  was  desirous  of  becoming  the  head ;  so  he  removed  to 
St.  Louis  in  March,  1840,  and  rented  the  City  Hotel,  situated  on  Third 
and  Vine  streets.  This  hotel  was  a  long  time  the  favorite  house  of  the 
public,  and  Mr.  Barnum,  during  his  proprietorship,  enlarged  and  im- 
proved it  to  a  considerable  degree.  He  kept  that  hotel  successfully  for 
thirteen  years,  and  in  September,  1852,  sold  out. 

The  activity  of  Mr.  Barnum's  previous  life  precluded  any  thing  like 
inaction,  and  in  a  short  time,  after  selling  out  the  City  Hotel,  he  made  an 
effort  to  raise  a  stock  company,  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  magnificent 
hotel  at  a  cost  of  $300,000,  which  would  be  worthy  of  the  great  metrop- 
olis of  the  West ;  but  his  spirited  efforts  were  not  met  with  the  encour- 
agement they  deserved,  and  the  project  was  abandoned,  though  Mr. 
George  Collier,  Colonel  Brant,  and  Mr.  Swearergen,  each  subscribed  the 
liberal  sum  of  $25,000.  He  afterward  took  his  present  hotel,  which 
was  built  by  Mr.  George  R.  Taylor,  and  admitted  Mr.  Fogg,  who  was 
his  clerk,  as  partner.  Mr.  Barnum  always  adopts  the  safe  plan  of  select- 
ing his  chief  and  responsible  officers  from  the  number  of  his  numerous 
employes  whose  merits  and  talents  fit  them  for  superior  positions;  by 
this  means  he  has  well-tried,  trustworthy,  and  efficient  officers. 

The  furnishing  of  his  hotel  cost  Mr.  Barnum  the  large  sum  of  $80,000. 
The  house  is  well  known  throughout  the  United  States,  and  the  well- 
known  reputation  of  Mr.  Barnum  is  evinced  by  the  crowd  of  arrivals  which 
daily  enjoy  his  accommodations ;  and  in  private  life  his'  integrity,  his  en- 
terprise, his  courtesy  and  generous  disposition  have  made  him  universally 
loved  and  respected. 


DR.    ANDERSON. 

THIS  learned  and  eminent  divine  was  born  in  Prince  Edward's  county, 
state  of  Virginia,  December  5,  1814.  His  father,  Stephen  C.  Anderson, 
was  a  respectable  planter,  and  served  as  a  magistrate  of  the  commonwealth 
in  which  he  resided.  The  early  days  of  young  Anderson  were  spent  upon 
the  farm  of  his  father,  and  usually  attending  the  little  village  school  of  the 
place,  which  afforded  him  instruction  in  the  common  branches  of  an  Eng- 
lish education;  and  with  the  aid  of  a  tutor  he  was  instructed  in  the  mys- 
teries of  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  until  1831;  he  then  went  to  the 
University  of  Ohio,  at  Athens,  and  from  there  to  Andover,  Indiana,  and 
graduated  in  1835. 

After  having,  by  the  study  of  years,  formed  the  groundwork  on  which 
he  could  build  any  profession,  young  Anderson,  following  the  bent  of  his 
inclinations,  which  had  long  fostered  a  love  for  religious  pursuits,  went  to 
the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  for  the  purpose  of  fitting  himself  for  the 
duties  of  the  ministry.  After  passing  through  the  full  course  suitable  to 
his  future  calling,  Mr.  Anderson  went  to  Oxford,  North  Carolina,  where 
he  remained  one  year:  and  receiving  an  invitation  from  Danville,  Vir- 
ginia, he  accepted  the  call,  and  for  five  years  preached  to  a  respectable  and 
continually-increasing  congregation.  From  Danville  he  removed  to  Nor- 
folk, where  he  soon  became  most  popular  in  his  calling.  The  fame  of  his 
learning,  his  piety,  and  his  effective  delivery  from  the  pulpit,  soon  spread 
beyond  the  precincts  of  the  little  city  in  which  he  lived,  and  his  name 
became  associated  with  the  constellation  of  ministers  whose  talents  can 
best  in  vest  Religion  with  her  true  and  heavenly  attributes. 

After  remaining  in  Norfolk  for  five  years,  Dr.  Anderson  came  to  St. 
Louis  in  1857,  and  engaged  as  the  pastor  of  the  Central  Church,  which 
at  that  time  was  far  from  being  in  a  flourishing  condition.  Nothing  dis- 
couraged, he  went  earnestly  to  work,  and  by  the  daily  example  of  a  well 
regulated  life,  and  by  precepts  from  the  pulpit,  bathed  in  the  Hyblaean  dew 
of  eloquence,  he  awakened  emotions  in  hearts  which  had  before  remained 
indifferent  to  the  duties  of  religion,  and  by  degrees  the  congregation  in- 
creased in  number,  and  the  church  was  soon  relieved  from  the  debt  which 
had  so  long  oppressed  it.  The  church  is  now  in  the  most  prosperous 
condition. 

Dr.  Anderson  was  married  April  9th,  1840,  to  Miss  Lucy  A.  Jones,  of 
Nottaway  county,  Virginia,  and  the  domestic  fireside  and  ministerial 
duties  form  the  elements  of  his  happiness.  The  secret  of  his  success  as  a 
preacher  is  owing  to  his  earnestness  of  manner,  to  the  strength  and  purity 
of  his  language,  and  the  possession  of  true  piety,  which  gives  that  genial 
glow  to  his  discourse,  which,  by  sympathetic  fervor,  invites  the  listener  to 
partake  of  the  pure  joys  which  spring  from  a  religious  life.  He  lives, 
and  has  lived,  to  good  purpose,  and  his  watchfulness  over  his  congregation 
shows  that  he  truly  acts  the  part  of  a  good  shepherd  to  his  flock. 


REV.    S.    J.    P.    ANDERSON,   D.    D., 

Central  Presbyterian   Church. 

(p.  211.) 

ENGRAVED    EXPRESSLY   FOR   THIS   WOBK    FROM   A    PHOTOGRAPH   BY   BROWN. 


SULLIVAN    BLOOD, 
President  of  the  Boatman's  Savings  Institution. 

(p.  213) 

ENGRAVED   EXPRESSLY    FOR  THIS   WORK   FROM   A   PHOTOGRAPH    BY   TROXELL. 


SULLIVAN    BLOOD. 

PRESIDENT    OF   THE    BOATMENs'    SAVINGS    INSTITUTION 

THE  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born  in  the  town  of  Windsor,' state  of 
Vermont,  on  the  24th  of  April,  1795.  His  life  has  been  one  of  progres- 
sion ;  and,  as  we  follow  him  from  his  humble  commencement  in  the 
city  of  St.  Louis,  and  see  how  step  by  step  he  has  risen  to  position  and 
affluence,  we  feel  that  his  biography  will  exert  a  salutary  influence ;  and 
many  an  ambitious  youth,  denied  the  influence  of  friends  and  wealth,  will 
be  encouraged  to  fight  manfully  and  hopefully  the  great  battle  of  life. 

The  parents  of  Sullivan  Blood  were  natives  of  Massachusetts,  and  emi- 
grated to  Vermont,  then  called  the  new  state,  in  1793,  there  lived  upon  a 
form,  and  both  died  during  the  years  1813  and  1814.  Two  years  after 
losing  his  parents,  Sullivan  Blood,  who  always  possessed  an  enterprising 
and  ambitious  mind,  determined  to  emigrate  to  the  far  West,  and  there 
manfully  to  work  out  his  destiny.  After  examining  thoroughly  on  the 
map  the  different  locations,  he  selected  that  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis 
as  the  most  proper  place  to  commence  his  fortune,  and  in  1817  fixed  his 
residence  in  that  spot.  St.  Louis,  at  that  time,  was  just  passing  the 
barrier  in  municipal  existence  which  divides  the  village  from  a  town,  and 
according  to  an  edict  issued  by  the  authorities,  a  night-watch  was  ap- 
pointed the  following  year,  and  among  the  number  of  candidates  for  the 
new  appointment  Mr.  Blood  was  elected  as  one  of  the  watchmen ;  but 
when  he  became  known,  and  his  character  and  talents  appreciated,  he  was 
soon  exalted  to  the  position  of  captain. 

During  the  time  that  Captain  Blood  held  his  responsible  position,  the 
property  of  the  city  and  citizens  was  well  protected  from  the  thief,  the 
burglar,  and  the  incendiary;  and  so  efficient  was  he  in  the  discharge 
of  his  duties,  that  he  retained  the  position  of  captain  for  the  space  of  some 
years.  After  remaining  six  years  in  St.  Louis,  Captain  Blood  determined 
to  revisit  the  Green  Mountain  state,  and,  during  his  visit,  married  Miss 
Sophia  Hall,  whose  mother  still  survives,  at  the  venerable  age  of  ninety- 
one  years. 

Captain  Blood  was  a  constable  in  the  city  for  ten  years;  and  served 
in  the  capacity  of  deputy  sheriff  during  the  terms  of  Robert  Simpson 
and  John  R.  Walker.  In  1833,  he  was  elected  an  alderman  from 
the  second  ward,  and  served  one  year.  Beyond  this,  Captain  Blood 
has  not  been  identified  with  political  life,  which  he  knew  would  inter- 
fere with  his  private  business  and  domestic  happiness.  He  has  often 
been  solicited  to  become  the  candidate  for  many  important  offices,  but  for 
the  reasons  we  have  given,  has  always  declined  political  interference. 
Captain  Blood  early  turned  his  attention  to  steamboating,  and  in  the 
palmy  days  of  steamboat  navigation,  before  railroads  had  crossed  the 
western  prairies,  he  became  engaged  in  the  trade  between  New  Orleans 
and  St.  Louis,  and  plentifully  gathered  of  the  harvest  which  belonged  to 


216  SULLIVAN   BLOOD. 


those  who  were  engaged  in  the  profitable  pursuit  of  steam  boating.  He 
built  two  boats,  both  of  which  he  commanded,  and  by  the  kindness  of  his 
disposition,  and  the  amenities  of  his  manners,  the  boats  he  commanded 
became  the  general  favorites  of  the  travelling  and  commercial  world. 
Many  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  and  inhabitants  of  all  parts  of  the  Union  can 
call  up  pleasant  reminiscences,  while  a  passenger  in  the  boats  commanded 
by  the  careful  and  friendly  Captain  Blood.  He  probably  knew  the  Mis- 
sissippi, during  the  time  he  was  an  officer  on  its  waters,  as  well  as  any 
pilot  engaged  upon  it. 

The  circumstance  of  Captain  Blood  being  once  a  boatman,  and  his 
popularity  with  all  who  followed  that  profession,  made  it  proper  that  he 
should  be  appointed  a  director  in  the  "Boatmens'  Saving  Institution," 
which  was  created  with  especial  reference  to  the  wants,  and  for  the  bene- 
fit of  that  numerous  class  of  individuals  who  follow  the  western  rivers  as 
a  means  of  subsistence.  It  was  thought  that  the  name  would  enlist  the 
attention  of  numerous  hardworking  but  improvident  individuals,  who 
might  be  induced  to  deposit  a  small  portion  of  their  hard-earned  money, 
and  by  that  means  contract  habits  of  calculation,  and  a  desire  to  create  a 
store  on  which  they  could  draw,  should  some  malady  assail  them,  or  old 
ao"e  render  them  unfit  for  manual  exertion.  From  the  very  first,  Captain 
Blood  became  the  supporter  and  friend  of  this  institution,  which,  from  an 
humble  commencement,  has  become  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  favor- 
ite moneyed  institutions  in  St.  Louis. 

The  confidence  reposed  in  an  institution  necessarily  arises  from  the 
character  of  its  officers;  and  Captain  Blood  was  appointed  a  director  in 
1847,  and  during  the  last  five  years  has  been  its  president,  and  the  weight 
of  his  character  is  manifested  by  the  popularity  of  the  institution.  He 
has  always  been  a  working  man,  and  still  works,  enjoying  a  "green  old 
age."  He  has  not  frittered  away  his  time  either  in  visionary  impossibili- 
ties or  slothful  inaction,  but  "honorable  labor"  lias  been  the  maxim  of  his 
life,  and  to  it  he  is  indebted  for  the  worldly  comforts  he  possesses  in  the 
decline  of  his  life;  and  to  his  industry,  integrity,  philanthropy,  and 
domestic  virtues,  he  owes  the  tribute  of  respect  that  is  paid  to  his  char- 
acter. 


JOHN    A.    BKOWNLEE, 
President  of  the  Merchants'  Bnnk. 

(I,.  217.) 

ENGRAVED   KXPRKSSLY   FOR  THIS    WORK   FROM   A   PHOTOGRAPH    MY  BROWN. 


JOHN    A.    BROWNLEE, 

PRESIDENT    OF   THE    MERCHANTS1    BANK. 

JOHN  A.  BROWNLEE  was  born  May  8th,  1819,  at  Basking  Ridge,  state 
of  New  Jersey.  His  father,  the  Rev.  William  C.  Brownlee,  D.  D.,  was  an 
eminentDivine,  arid  a  most  accomplished  scholar,  being  a  graduate  of  the 
University  at  Glasgow,  Scotland,  and,  immediately  on  entering  the  minis- 
try, removed  to  this  country,  and  first  commenced  his  ministerial  labors  in 
the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  as  a  Presbyterian  minister.  His  thorough  and 
varied  learning,  and  the  earnest  devotion  to  the  sect  whose  creed  he  had 
chosen  to  follow  and  advocate,  soon  gave  him  distinction  in  the  literary 
world,  and  made  him  the  champion  of  his  religions  order. 

Besides  filling  with  distinction  various  posts  in  his  ministerial  calling, 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Brownlee  was  distinguished  as  an  author  in  various  depart- 
ments of  learning,  and,  at  one  time,  was  the  President  of  Rutger's  College, 
New  Brunswick,  of  which  the  Hon.  Theodore  Frelinghuysen  is  now  the  head. 
Dr.  Brownlee  removed  to  New  York  in  1825,  and  became  one  of  the 
associate  ministers  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  and  was  considered  the 
ablest  pulpit  orator  of  the  day.  It  was  while  he  was  pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  at  Basking  Ridge,  that  his  son,  John  A.  Brownlee, 
the  subject  of  this  memoir,  was  born. 

As  far  as  social  position,  paternal  influence,  and  the  well-wishes  of  troops 
of  friends  could  subserve  him,  John  A.  Brownlee  was  born  under  the  most 
favorable  auspices.  The  position  of  his  father  gave  him  every  opportunity 
of  early  improving  his  mind,  and  storing  it  with  knowledge  that  might 
fit  him  for  future  usefulness.  After  receiving  a  liberal  education,  young 
Brownlee  selected  commercial  pursuits  as  his  business  calling  in  life,  and 
went  to  New  York  city,  where  he  was  engaged  in  the  extensive  wholesale 
silk  house  kept  by  Throckmorton  &  Co.,  and  there  remained  for  three 
years.  Being  of  an  aspiring  disposition,  which  prompted  him  to  be  at  the 
head  of  the  avocation  he  had  chosen,  he  determined  to  remove  from  New 
York  and  seek  in  the  West  a  more  favorable  field,  where  to  found  his 
fortune  and  gratify  his  ambition. 

Chicago,  the  Queen  City  of  the  lakes,  had  just  commenced  to  attract 
attention,  and  John  A.  Brownlee  removed  to  the  then  embryo  city,  where 
he  remained  one  year,  and  then  went  to  St.  Louis,  in  1839,  where  he 
believed  the  business  inducements  to  be  greatest.  In  St.  Louis  he  com- 
menced as  dry  goods  clerk  m  the  house  of  P.  E.  Blow,  which  soon  after 
became  known  as  the  firm  of  Blow  &  Labaume. 

By  his  business  capacity,  his  integrity,  and  successful  management, 
Mr.  Brownlee  soon  won  the  respect  and  confidence  of  his  employers,  and 
by  degrees  passed  through  all  the  progressive  stages  of  advancement  until 
he  became  a  partner  in  the  establishment  he  entered  as  clerk,  and  the 
firm  was  conducted  by  him  and  his  associate,  Mr.  L.  B.  Shaw ;  nearly  at 
this  time  he  was  joined  in  marriage  to  Miss  Ridgely,  of  Baltimore.  At 
the  death  of  Mr.  Shaw,  the  entire  business  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Brown- 


. 

V 

220  JOHN  A.   BROWNLEE. 


lee,  which  he  conducted  solely  for  some  time,  until  the  present  firm  of 
Brownlee,  Homer  &  Company  was  organized. 

The  ruling  desire  of  Mr.  Brownlee's  life  appears  to  have  been  to  gain 
the  highest  round  of  usefulness  in  business  life;  and  his  present  position, 
his  wealth,  integrity,  and  influence,  show  how  well  he  has  accomplished 
his  wishes.  He  is  President  of  the  Millers  &  Manufacturers'  Insurance 
Company,  and  is  the  head  of  one  of  the  most  respectable  moneyed  in- 
stitutions in  the  state,  being  President  of  the  Merchants'  Bank.  He  has 
never  wished  to  stray  from  the  business  orbit;  has  never  sought  the  un- 
certain honors  which  belong  to  political  controversy;  and  only  on  one 
occasion  do  we  find  that  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  turbulent  scenes  of 
party  faction,  and  that  was  when  he  was  president  of  the  state  council  of 
the  American  party.  His  sphere  in  life  has  been  of  a  quiet  and  useful 
nature,  and  he  is  well  and  honorably  known  in  the  city  of  his  adoption. 
His  high  moral  worth,  connected  with  his  business  capacity  and  rare  in- 
telligence, has  given  him  an  influence  among  all  classes  of  citizens,  who 
yield  to  his  opinions,  and  readily  submit  to  his  judgment. 

John  A.  Brownlee  is  only  at  the  meridian  of  life,  and  with  his  mind 
stored  with  information,  and  rich  in  experience,  and  possessing  a  consti- 
tution vigorous  and  healthful,  he  has  the  promise  of  a  long  future  of -use- 
fulness. 


HENRY    AMES,    ESQ. 

(p.  221.) 

ENOP.AVKD   KSPKKSSLY    FOR   THIS   WOUK    FROM    .V    rilOTOUKAl'H    BY    BROWN. 


HENRY    AMES. 

THE  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born  in  Oneida  county,  New  York, 
March  4,  1818.  His  father,  Nathan  Ames,  was  engaged  for  some  time 
in  agricultural  pursuits,  until,  in  1828,  he  came  to  the  city  of  Cincinnati, 
and  engaged  in  the  pork-packing  business.  His  two  sons,  Henry  and 
Edgar,  who  are  all  of  the  children  that  are  living,  were  sent  early  to 
school,  and  taught  thoroughly  the  useful  branches  of  an  English  educa- 
tion. That  accomplished,  they  were  taken  into  the  establishment  of  their 
father,  and  instructed  carefully  in  all  the  duties  connected  with  the  pork- 
packing  business. 

In  1841,  Mr.  Nathan  Ames,  the  father,  believing  that  St.  Louis,  from 
her  geographical  position,  would,  in  time,  become  the  great  metropolis  of 
the  West,  and  far  outstrip  the  city  in  which  he  was  located,  established 
himself  in  the  growing  town  in  the  same  business  he  had  pursued  in  Cin- 
cinnati, and  died  in  1852,  aged  fifty-six  years,  respected  for  his  many 
virtues. 

Henry  Ames  had  been  connected  with  his  father  as  early  as  1833,  and 
for  many  years  floated  down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers  on  flatboats 
laden  for  the  New  Orleans  market.  At  that  time  the  Mississippi  was 
filled  with  snags,  and  the  navigation  was  most  perilous.  Henry  Ames 
narrowly  escaped  with  his  life  on  several  occasions,  from  his  boat 
coming  in  contact  with  these  obstructions,  and  rapidly  sinking.  He  was 
looked  upon,  even  when  a  boy,  by  the  business  men  who  knew  him,  as 
possessing  all  the  elements  suitable  for  the  avocation  he  pursued ;  and 
many  predicted  that  he  would  in  time  attain  the  first  rank  in  his  business, 
and  stand  at  its  head.  That  prophecy  is  already  fulfilled ;  for  we  believe 
that  Henry  Ames  &  Co.,  are  the  largest  beef  and  pork  packers  in  the 
Union. 

Henry  Ames  was  married  February,  1855,  to  Mrs.  McCloud,  daughter 
of  Doctor  Scudder.  He  is  one  of  the  most  honorable  and  liberal  of  men  ; 
and  his  enterprise  and  business  capacity  are  undoubted.  He  has  been, 
and  is,  connected  with  many  offices  of  trust  and  importance.  He  has  been 
President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  for  two  years,  is  Vice-President 
of  the  State  Saving  Institution,  is  a  director  in  the  Merchants'  Insurance 
Company,  in  the  United  States  Insurance  Company,  and  other  institu- 
tions. Still  young  and  in  the  prime  of  manhood,  he  has  already  garnered 
wealth  and  reputation,  without  creating  the  envy  which  so  usually  accom- 
panies success.  He  has  won  golden  opinions  from  all,  and  there  are  none 
but  who  respect  his  name,  and  appreciate  his  character. 


HENRY    T.    BLOW, 

PRESIDENT    OF   THE    COLLIER   WHITE-LEAD    OIL    COMPANY. 

HENRY  T.  BLOW  was  born  July  15,  1817,  in  Southampton  county,  Vir- 
ginia. He  is  descended  from  a  very  ancient  English  family,  and  can 
trace  his  lineage  to  the  days  of  the  unfortunate  Charles  I.  He  has  a  por- 
trait of  one  of  his  ancestors,  John  Blow,  who  was  an  eminent  musician 
and  composer  of  music  at  that  time,  hung  in  his  parlor.  Captain  Peter 
Blow,  his  father,  was  a  respectable  planter  in  Virginia,  and  removed  for 
a  brief  time  to  Alabama,  and  from  thence  to  St.  Louis  in  1830,  and  became 
proprietor  of  what  was  known  as  the  Jefferson  Hotel.  He  died  a  year 
afterward  universally  lamented.  He  was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Taylor,  of  an  old  Virginian  family,  and  had  twelve  children,  six  of  whom 
are  living,  Peter,  Henry,  Taylor,  Elizabeth,  William,  and  Mrs.  Joseph 
Charless.  The  gentlemen  are  all  highly  esteemed  for  their  business 
qualifications,  integrity,  and  intelligence,  in  the  localities  where  they 
reside. 

Henry  T.  Blow,  the  subject  of  this  biography,  was  early  sent  to  school, 
and  had  all  the  advantages  of  early  mental  culture,  being  designed  by  his 
father  for  the  profession  of  the  law.  He  graduated  at  the  St.  Louis 
University,  an  institution  which  has  always  been  eminent  for  its  thorough 
scholarship ;  and  having  given  up  all  ideas  of  the  legal  profession,  he  ob- 
tained the  situation  of  clerk  in  the  drug  establishment  of  Messrs.  Joseph 
Charless  &  Son. 

Mr.  Blow  was  always  remarkable  for  his  industry,  his  energy,  and  ambi- 
tion to  excel  in  business  pursuits.  He  very  soon  became  indispensable  to 
the  establishment  of  his  employers,  and  in  1836,  after  the  elder  Mr. 
Charless  retired,  he  was  taken  as  partner  in  the  house  by  the  son,  and  the 
firm  was  known  as  Charless  <fe  Blow.  The  firm  did  a  very  heavy  and 
lucrative  business,  till  1839,  when  Mr.  Charless  wishing  to  retire,  Mr. 
Blow  bought  out  his  interest,  and  became  sole  owner  of  the  drug  store. 
This  continued  until  1840,  when  Mr.  Charless  again  became  a  partner, 
and  the  firm  became  Joseph  Charless  &  Company.  The  business  soon 
became  much  enlarged,  and  the  White-Lead  Works,  which  formed  the 
commencement  of  the  present  Collier  White-Lead  and  Oil  Company  were 
connected  with  their  business. 

In  1844,  Mr.  Blow  and  Mr.  Charless  dissolved  partnership;  the  former 
having  determined  to  carry  on  the  White-Lead  Works  which  he  had  set 
apart  for  himself  on  the  dissolution  of  copartnership ;  Mr.  Charless  still 
carrying  on  the  drug-store.  Fortune  had  always  been  propitious  to  Mr. 
Blow,  but  she  became  lavish  of  her  favors ;  for  in  the  short  period  of  four 
years  after  his  sole  possession  of  the  White-Lead  Works  he  amassed  all 
the  wealth  he  desired,  and  then  determined  to  retire,  having  an  ample, 
fortune.  He  applied  for  an  act  of  incorporation  of  the  White-Lead 
Works,  and  a  charter  was  granted  under  the  stylo  of  the  Collier  White- 


HENRY    T.    BLOW,    ESQ., 

President  of  the  Collier   White-Lead  and  Oil  Company. 

(p.  225.) 

KNORAVEU    EXPRESSLY    FOR   THIS    WORK    FROM    A    1'HOTCHiRAI'U    BY    BBOWN. 


HENRY   T.    BLOW.  227 


Lead  and  Oil  Company.  From  the  very  commencement  in  its  corporate 
character,  Mr.  Blow  has  been  its  President,  and  the  works  do  a  business 
of  immense  magnitude  and  profit. 

Mr.  Blow  was  married  July  15,  1840,  to  Miss  Grimsley,  the  accom- 
plished daughter  of  Thornton  Grimsley,  Esq.,  of  St.  Louis.  He  has 
never  been  an  ardent  politician,  and  never  had  much  relish  for  the 
feverish  excitement  of  political  life,  yet  he  yielded  to  the  earnest  impor- 
tunities of  his  friends,  and  was  elected  to  the  state  senate  for  four  years. 
He  was  a  hard-working  and  efficient  member,  and  took  an  active  part 
in  all  the  important  measures  that  were  agitated.  Whilst  at  Jefferson 
City  he  was  chairman  of  the  committee  on  banks  and  corporations. 

Mr.  Blow  has  been  one  of  the  directors  of  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad, 
and  through  his  efficient  exertion,  assisted  by  others  who  possessed  a 
taste  for  the  fine  arts,  the  Western  Academy  of  Art  came  into  being. 
This  institution  has  been  brought  into  existence  by  its  corporators  with 
much  labor  and  expense,  so  as  to  form  and  encourage  a  taste  for  a  love 
of  the  beautiful.  Such  an  institution  was  much  needed  in  St.  Louis,  and 
it  will  form  a  nucleus  around  which  will  cluster  the  votaries  of  art,  who 
will  contribute  generously  to  its  advance,  and  its  refining  influence  will 
direct  the  sensibilities  of  the  inhabitants  in  more  delicate  channels,  and 
encourage  a  love  of  the  elegant.  Mr.  Blow  is  president  of  the  institution. 

Mr.  Blow  has  always  taken  a  prominent  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  Agri- 
cultural and  Mechanical  Association,  now  so  widely  known  throughout 
the  Union,  and  has  been  one  of  its  most  efficient  officers  since  its  incorpora 
tion.  During  the  last  Fair  of  1858,  so  as  to  create  a  general  emulation 
among  the  architects  of  St.  Louis,  he  offered,  as  a  private  premium,  the 
sum  of  two  hundred  dollars  for  the  best  plan  of  a  suburban  residence,  the 
cost  not  exceeding  $20,000.  He  is  well  known  to  the  citizens  of  St. 
Louis;  and  in  connection  with  his  acknowledged  business  qualifications, 
he  is  highly  esteemed  for  his  moral  attributes.  He  is  now  in  the  full 
vigor  of  manhood,  and  has  already  accomplished  what  most  men  lay  out 
as  the  work  of  a  protracted  life — "  wealth,  honor,  and  the  good-will  of  all 
men." 


REV.   DR.   M.   McANALLY. 

THIS  well-known  Methodist  divine,  journalist,  and  author,  was  born  in 
Granger  county,  Tennessee,  February  17,  1810.  His  parents,  Charles  and 
Elizabeth  McAnally,  came  to  the  state  of  Tennessee  when  it  was  almost 
a  wild,  and  soon  became  possessed  of  a  very  large  tract  of  land  in  that 
fertile  state.  Charles  McAnally  was  a  Christian  and  Methodist  preacher 
for  forty  years,  and  died  at  an  advanced  age  in  1849.  His  son,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  had  the  advantage  in  early  years  of  a  fine  private 
school,  and  early  evinced  an  inclination  for  study  and  the  pursuit  of  letters. 
He  occasionally  worked  on  Jhe  farm,  which  served  to  complete  his  physi- 
cal development;  and  after  receiving  a  proper  preliminary  education,  he 
commenced  the  study  of  the  law,  which  he  abandoned  afterward  for  that 
of  the  ministry. 

At  the  early  age  of  nineteen,  young  McAnally  commenced  his  labors 
from  the  pulpit,  and  in  November,  1831,  was  ordained  with  full  powers 
of  the  ministry.  He  was  remarkably  successful  in  making  friends  and 
proselytes;  and  his  ardent  zeal,  and  impassioned  delivery,  and  his  effec- 
tive reasoning  made  him  one  of  the  most  popular  preachers  of  the  Metho- 
dist persuasion.  He  preached  in  Tennessee,  North  Carolina,  Virginia,  and 
other  places,  until  1843,  when  he  received  the  appointment  of  President 
of  the  Female  Institute  at  Knoxville,  over  which  he  successfully  presided 
for  eight  years;  and  the  fame  of  the  institution  drew  pupils  from  Maine 
to  Texas.  It  remains  to  this  day  a  first  class  seminary. 

In  1851,  the  Rev.  Dr.  M.  McAnally  came  to  St.  Louis,  at  the  invitation  of 
the  St.  Louis  and  Missouri  Annual  Conferences  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  to  conduct  the  Christian  Advocate,  and  take  charge  of  the  books 
published  by  his  church.  The  concern  was  started  with  a  capital  of 
$1,800,  and  it  soon  became  so  profitable,  that  in  1853,  the  publishing 
business  was  connected  with  the  bookstore,  and  a  large  quantity  of  stand- 
ard works,  equal  in  typographical  excellence  to  any  coming  from  the 
large  establishments  in  the  East,  have  already  been  published.  There 
have  been  more  than  100,000  volumes  issued  by  the  concern  since  it  went 
into  existence.  The  house  does  a  most  extensive  business  throughout  the 
West,  and  belongs  to  the  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  and  Kansas  Conferences. 

Dr.  McAnally's  connection  with-  the  Christian  Advocate,  so  widely  cir- 
culated is  well  known.  He  is  a  fearless  and  lucid  writer,  and  dissemi- 
nates those  doctrines  which  he  believes  will  exert  the  most  salutary  influ- 
ence over  the  temporal  and  eternal  welfare  of  his  fellow  beings. 


REV.    DR.     M.     McANALLY. 


(p.  229.) 


GEORGE    PARTRIDGE. 

(p.  281.) 

KNQRAVKD   EXPRESSLY   FOR  THIS   WORK   FROM   A   PHOTOGRAPH   BY   BROWN. 


GEORGE    PARTRIDGE. 

THE  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born  March  27,  1809,  at  Walpole,  Mas- 
sachusetts. He  was  the  son  of  honorable  parents,  who  still  are  living  at 
Templeton,  in  the  state  of  Massachusetts.  His  father,  Ezekiel  Partridge, 
was  a  farmer,  and  George,  who  was  one  of  twelve  children,  was  early 
initiated  in  the  mysteries  of  agriculture,  and  faithfully  assisted  his  father 
in  the  cultivation  of  the  farm  till  he  was  seventeen  years  of  age,  a  small 
portion  of  time  being  given  to  his  education.  He  had  time  to  go  to  the 
country  school  in  the  winter — the  rest  of  the  year  was  devoted  to  hard 
work.  When  he  arrived  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  being  anxious  to  com- 
mence a  start  in  life,  he  taught  a  little  school  during  two  winters,  by 
which  he  earned  a  few  extra  dollars. 

In  1828,  an  unexpected  misfortune  diminished  very  much  the  resources 
of  his  father,  and  George  Partridge  had  to  sever  himself  from  parental 
guiding-strings,  and  seek  a  livelihood  in  the  world  among  strangers. 
Though  brave  at  heart,  and  early  confident  in  himself,  it  was  not  without 
a  full  heart  and  moistened  eye  that  he  took  leave  of  the  parental  roof,  and 
went  to  Boston  to  seek  his  fortune.  His  cash  capital  on  reaching  Boston 
amounted  to  thirteen  dollars,  and  consequently  he  could  not  delay  in  select- 
ing what  to  do,  as  his  means  wonld  soon  become  exhausted.  He  must  com- 
mence work  at  once,  or  starvation  would  be  the  result  ;  'so  he  commenced, 
as  the  quickest  mode  of  turning  over  his  capital,  the  sale  of  books  and 
papers,  and  also  procuring  subscriptions  for  the  same.  This  w,as  an 
almost  starving  occupation,  and  young  George  Partridge  soon  forsook  it, 
when  he  was  offered  a  situation  in  a  grocery  store,  at  a  salary  of  fifty 
dollars  a  year  and  board.  He  remained  in  that  employment  for  some 
time,  and  finding  that,  with  all  his  economy,  he  could  scarcely  save 
enough  to  purchase  his  clothes,  he  resolved  to  start,  if  possible,  in  business 
himself,  if  he  could  get  credit  for  his  stock  of  goods.  His  industry,  honesty, 
and  attention  to  business  had  been  noticed  by  business  men,  and  he  found 
no  difficulty  in  procuring  credit,  and  started  his  fortunes  with  a  stock  of 
goods,  and  a  store  at  four  hundred  dollars  rent,  in  which  first  investment 
he  was  very  fortunate.  He  remained  at  that  time  in  the  grocery  business 
eight  years,  the  last  years  of  the  time  engaged  solely  in  the  wholesale 
trade. 

All  who  have  reached  the  meridian  of  life  must  recollect  the  terrible 
financial  crisis  which  visited  the  country  in  1837,  and  swept  from  exist- 
ence in  the  business  world  firms  which  before  appeared  to  possess  all  the 
elements  of  healthful  endurance.  Amid  the  business  prostration  which 
was  everywhere  around  him,  George  Partridge  stood  unmoved  by  the 
shock.  His  neighbors  suspended  payment,  but  he  was  always  ready  to 
cancel  his  debts. 

It  was  the  custom  of  groceries  in  those  days,  as  now,  to  do  a  large  liquor 
business,  which  formed  the  most  lucrative  portion  of  the  trade,  and  finding 
if  he  did  not  sell  that  important  article  in  Boston,  that  he  could  not  keep 


234:  GEORGE   PARTRIDGE. 


pace  with  other  grocers,  Mr.  Partridge  sold  out  in  June,  1838,  and  re- 
solved on  trying  his  fortunes  in  the  Far-west. 

After  leaving  Boston  he  went  to  Burlington,  a  thriving  town  in  Iowa, 
where  he  established  a  large  grocery  house,  which  went  under  the  name 
of  Bridgeman  &  Partridge,  and  did  a  lucrative  business.  Whilst  in  Iowa 
Mr.  Partridge  made  an  effort  to  establish  a  Unitarian  society,  but  there 
were  too  few  of  that  popular  sect  in  Burlington  and  its  vicinity  to  form  a 
congregation,  so  the  project  was  unsuccessful.  Thriving  as  the  town  of 
Burlington  is,  Mr.  Partridge  wanted  an  ampler  field,  so  he  came  to  St. 
Louis,  and  bought  a  copartnership  in  the  firm  of  Smith  and  Brother,  and 
commenced  the  grocery  and  commission  business,  under  the  firm  of 
Partridge  &  Company,  and  one  of  the  conditions  of  the  partnership  ex- 
presses that  no  alcoholic  liquor  is  to  be  sold. 

Mr.  Partridge  has  been  twice  married.  In  March  27,  1834,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Elmira  Kenney,  and  on  January  6,  1858,  to  Mrs.  Clarace 
C.  Cotter  of  Boston.  From  a  long  course  of  successful  business  pursuits, 
he  has  won  for  himself  the  confidence  of  all  business  men,  and'filled  many 
important  positions.  He  is  a  director  in  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rail- 
road, also  one  in  the  State  Saving  Association,  and  was  one  of  the  Board 
of  Public  Schools,  which  he  held  for  five  years ;  took  an  active  part  in 
the  building  of  the  Unitarian  Church;  one  of  the  trustees  of  Washington 
University,  and  most  efficient  in  procuring  the  erection  of  the  new  Female 
Institute,  the  Mary  Academy,  to  be  connected  with  it;  and  is  connected 
in  divers  ways  with  other  institutions. 

The  charity  of  Mr.  Partridge  is  munificent  and  unostentatious,  and 
when  one  of  the  eleemosynary  institutions  of  our  city  was  in  debt  five 
hundred  dollars,  he  paid  the  amount  out  of  his  own  pocket,  without  re- 
quiring the  public  journals  to  sound  the  charity  in  their  thousands  of  dis- 
tributions. He  is  now  approaching  the  "sear  and  yellow  leaf"  of  life, 
but  he  is  surrounded  with  troops  of  friends. 

In  March  31,  1859,  the  parents  of  Mr.  Partridge  celebrated  at  his  house 
their  "golden  wedding,"  having  been  married  fifty  years,  and  lived  happily 
in  that  relationship. 


WILLIAM    GLASGOW,    JR., 

President  of  the  Mixxouri   Wine  Company. 

(p.  235.) 

r.D   KXPKF.88LY   FOR  THIS   WORK    FROM    A   PITOTOORAPH   BT   BROWN. 


WILLIAM  GLASGOW,  JR. 

PRESIDENT    Of   THE    MISSOURI    WINE    COMPANY. 

WILLIAM  GLASGOW,  Jr.,  was  born  at  Christiana,  state  of  Delaware, 
July  4,  1813.  Some  five  years  after  his  birth,  his  parents,  James  and 
Ann  Glasgow,  removed  from  that  state  to  Missouri,  and  settled  at  Chari- 
ton,  and  removed  from  there  to  St.  Louis  in  1836. 

William  Glasgow,  Jr.,  was  the  second  child,  and  he  received  the  rudi- 
ments of  his  education  at  Chariton,  but  on  attaining  a  proper  age,  Avas 
sent  to  a  fine  school  in  Wilmington,  state  of  Delaware,  where  he  remained 
three  years  completing  his  education.  After  leaving  school  he  commenced 
business  in  that  town,  where  he  remained  until  1836,  and,  joining  his 
father,  came  to  St.  Louis. 

After  a  residence  of  some  years  in  Missouri,  William  Glasgow  became 
convinced  that  the  soil  of  a  large  portion  of  the  state  was  adapted  to  the 
growth  of  the  grape.  He  drew  his  conclusions  from  the  nature  of  the 
soil,  the  climate,  and  the  plenty  and  luxuriance  with  which  the  wild  grape 
abounded  and  flourished  in  almost  every  locality.  So  well  convinced  was  he 
of  the  fact  that  the  grape  could  be  successfully  cultivated,  that  he  planted  a 
small  vineyard  at  his  present  residence,  in  1844,  amid  the  jeers  of  many 
who  derided  the  idea  that  wine  could  be  made  in  Missouri.  However,  the 
crop  was  an  abundant  one,  and  the  experiment  even  surpassed  the  expecta- 
tions of  Mr.  Glasgow.  This  was  the  first  vineyard  ever  established  in  the 
state  of  Missouri,  and  to  Mr.  Glasgow  belongs  the  credit  of  introducing  into 
the  state  an  article  of  agriculture,  which  will  soon  rank  as  one  of  its  staples, 
and  become  one  of  the  chief  elements  of  wealth  and  national  industry. 
Mr.  Glasgow,  in  1847,  obtained  the  first  premium  for  grapes  and  wine 
that  was  conferred  by  any  society  in  the  state  of  Missouri.  It  is  natural 
for  man  to  link  himself  with  successful  measures ;  and  finding  that  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  grape  would  prove  profitable,  in  1853  there  was  formed  a 
company  called  William  Glasgow,  Jr.,  &  Company,  which  consisted  of 
William  Glasgow,  Jr.,  Amadee  Valle,  and  Allen  H.  Glasby,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  manufacturing  wine  from  grape  produced  in  Missouri,  on  an  exten- 
sive scale.  The  company  obtained  a  charter  in  1855,  under  the  name  of 
the  Missouri  Wine  Company,  with  a  cash  capital  of  $65,000,  and  Mr. 
Glasgow  was  chosen  President,  which  office  he  still  holds.  The  fame  of 
the  wine  now  extends  over  both  hemispheres. 

Mr.  Glasgow  was  married  April  16,  1840,  to  Miss  Sarah  L.  Lane, 
daughter  of  Dr.  William  Carr  Lane,  first  mayor  of  St.  Louis.  He  has 
the  confidence  and  respect  which  the  purity  of  his  character  so  well 
deserves. 


PART    III. 

HISTORY    OF    ST.    LOUIS.-FRENCH    DOMINATION 
CHAPTER    I. 

L.clede  Liguest  and  his  companions  start  from  New  Orleans,  August,  1763,  and  arrived 
at  Ste.  Genevieve  in  November. — Leave  Ste.  Genevieve  and  go  to  Fort  de  Chartres. 
He  makes  a  voyage  of  discovery  to  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri. — Selects  the  spot  for 
his  trading  post. — Settlement  of  St.  Louis,  February  15,  176-i. — Visit  of  the  Missouri 
Indians. — Treaty  of  1763. — Secret  treaty  between  France  and  Spain. — Increase  of 
St.  Louis. — Early  habits  of  the  settlers. —  Rage  of  the  people  when  informed  of  the 
secret  treaty. — Arrival  of  Louis  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive  at  St.  Louis. — Granting  of 
land. — Popularity  of  the  commandant. — The  attachment  of  the  Indians  to  the  French, 
their  hatred  of  the  English. — Laying  out  of  St.  Louis. — Its  extent  in  1764  and 
178Q. — Its  appearance  before  any  buildings  were  erected. — Style  of  dwellings. — 
Names  of  principal  inhabitants. — Grant  made  to  Liguest  of-  the  land  on  which  he 
first  commenced  to  build. — Grant  of  land  on  La  Petite  Riviere. — Mills  built  thereon. 
— First  mortgage. — First  marriage. — Land  reserved  for  church. — First  baptism. — 
The  place  for  a  public  square. — Unfavorable  news  from  New  Orleans. — The  arrival 
of  Rios. — The  determination  of  the  inhabitants  to  resist  Spanish  authority. — He 
leaves  St.  Louis  when  the  news  reaches  him  that  the  Spanish  commandant  was 
driven  from  NewOrleans. — Joy  of  the  inhabitants. — The  common  fields. — Their  reg- 
ulations.— Names  of  common  fields. — Arrival  of  Pontiac. — His  appearance. — His 
fame. — His  visit  to  Cahokia. — His  assassination. — His  burial  in  St.  Louis. — Exter- 
mination of  the  Illinois  Indians. — The  arrival  of  O'Reilly  in  New  Orleans. — His  re- 
ception by  the  people.— Five  of  the  inhabitants  are  executed,  and  six  sent  to  the 
dungeons  in  Cuba. — The  first  church  is  built  in  St.  Louis. — Its  consecration  by 
Father  Gibault. — Arrival  of  Piernas  in  St.  Louis. — He  takes  possession  of  the  town. 
— French  domination  ceases  in  Louisiana, 

IT  was  in  the  summer  of  1763,  that  there  was  a  commotion  of  no  ordinary 
kind  in  the  town  of  New  Orleans,  then  the  capital  of  the  whole  province 
of  Louisiana,  which  was  almost  fabulous  in  its  extent.  It  had  become 
bruited  abroad  that  a  charter  had  been  given  a  company,  conferring  upon 
them  the  privilege  of  an  exclusive  trade  with  the  savages  of  the  Missouri,  as 
far  north  as  the  St.  Peter's  River.  The  title  of  the  company  was  Laclede 
Liguest,  Antoine  Maxent  and  Co.,  of  whom  the  first-named  partner  was 
the  active  representative. 

At  that  time,  little  was  known  of  the  waters  of  the  Upper  Mississippi, 
for  above  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri  there  was  no  trade  carried  on  with 
New  Orleans,  the  capital  of  the  province.  Nearly  a  century  before,  there  had 
been  few  settlements  formed  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Mississippi,  at  St. 
Philip's,  Kaskaskia,  Cahokia,  and  Fort  de  Chartres,  villages  on  or  near  its 
banks,  but  on  the  west  side  of  the  "great  river"  there  was  no  attempt 
made  to  colonize  the  territory  north  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  then  called  La 
Poste  de  Ste.  Genevieve,  which,  as  far  as  tradition,  with  the  suggestion 
of  musty  records,  will  avail  us,  was  founded  in  the  year  1755,  and  is  the 
oldest  town  in  the  state  of  Missouri.  The  announcement  that  a  company 
was  going  to  establish  a  trading  post  and  colony  somewhere  on  the  west 


239 


24:0  THE    GREAT   WKST 


banks  of  the  Mississippi  River,  near  the  Missouri,  created  a  great  excite- 
ment among  the  inhabitants  of  New  Orleans,  who  were  principally  made 
up  of  trappers,  hunters  and  traders,  fond  of  the  wild  romance  incident  to 
pioneer  life.  Many  of  them  were  anxious  to  make  part  of  the  new  emi- 
gration, so  soon  to  alienate  themselves  from  their  homes,  and  risk  their 
lives  in  a  region  where  the  savages  still  claimed  the  immunity  of  their 
heritage,  and  believed  that  their  hunting-grounds  were  free  from  the  en- 
croachments of  the  white  men. 

The  new  enterprise  was  very  popular,  not  only  from  the  reason  that  we 
before  advanced,  of  the  love  of  the  people,  at  that  early  day,  of  adventur- 
ous excitement,  but  from  the  circumstance  that  Antoine  Maxant,  one  of 
the  proprietors  of  the  company,  held  an  office  under  the  king  of  France,  in 
the  province  of  Louisiana,  it  is  probable  that  through  his  influence  the 
charter  was  obtained  from  M.  d'Abbadie,  the  governor  of  the  province.  Of 
Pierre  Laclede  Liguest,  previous  to  this  time,  we  know  nothing,  except 
that"  he  came  from  a  province  in  France  bordering  on  the  Pyrenees,  and 
came  to  this  country  with  credentials  from  the  court  of  France,  with  the 
intention  of  trading  with  the  Indians.  Of  him  history  has  made  no  rec- 
ord, and  even  tradition,  in  her  legendary  narratives,  preserves  a  singular 
silence.  It  is  only  from  1763,  to  his  death  in  1778,  that  we  have  any 
data  that  can  furnish  any  materials  for  his  biography,  or  enable  us  to 
form  any  estimate  of  his  character. 1 

The  company,  consisting  of  a  large  number  of  mechanics,  trappers, 
hunters,  with  probably  a  few  agriculturists,  started  from  the  Crescent  City, 
in  the  rough,  heavy  kind  of  boats  that  were  used  at  that  time,  for  some 
spot  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi  that  would  be  favorable  for  estab- 
lishing a  trading  post  and  colony.  The  expedition  was  under  the  com- 
mand of  Pierre  Laclede  Liguest,  who  carried  with  him  a  large  amount  of 
coarse  but  strong  merchandise,  suitable  for  the  trade  with  the  savages. 
After  a  fatiguing  trip,  they  made  a  short  stop  at  Ste.Genevieve,  the  only 
French  post  on  the  west  banks  of  the  Mississippi  that  could  furnish  any 
thing  like  shelter  or  the  comforts  of  life.  It  was  the  intention  of  M.  La- 
clede Liguest  to  leave  his  merchandise  at  that  place,  until  he  could  fix  a 
location  higher  up  the  river,  and  more  contiguous  to  the  Missouri. 

Finding  that  Ste.Genevieve  could  offer  no  accommodation  for  his  party 
or  sufficient  shelter  for  his  goods,  M.  Laclede  Liguest,  at  the  invitation  of  the 
officer  .in  charge  of  Fort  de  Chartres,  again  ascended  the  river,  with  the 
intention  of  stopping  at  that  place,  and  there  disembark  his  companions 
and  merchandise,  until  he  could  select  a  location  suitable  for  his  purposes. 
On. arriving  at  Fort  de  Chartres,  he  found  that  preparations  were  ac- 
tively making  to  evacuate  the  place,  and  deliver  it  to  the  English,  to 
whom  had  been  ceded  all  of  the  French  territory  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Mississippi,  with  the  exception  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  by  the  treaty 
of  1763.  The  fort  was  commanded  by  M.  de  Neyon  de  Villiers,  who, 
from  the  meagre  accounts  which  history  has  left  us,  was  of  a  haughty  and 
imperious  disposition,  and  gave  to  the  voyagers  not  a  very  cordial  wel- 
come, although  he  had  extended  to  them  the  invitation  of  hospitality.* 

*  Colonel  Auguste  Chouteau's  journal,  a  fragment  of  which  is  preserved  in  the  Mer- 
cantile Library  of  St.  Louis,  though  inaccurate  as  regards  historical  dates,  certainly 
furnishes  the  only  authentic  information  concerning  the  first  settlement  of  St.  Louis. 


AJSTD   HEE   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS. 


M.  Laclcde  Ligucst,  after  storing  his  goods,  started  with  a  few  attend- 
ants for  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  resolving  to  fix  on  some  spot  between 
Fort  de  Chartres  and  the  "Muddy  River,"  at  which  he  could  commence  a 
settlement  in  the  early  part  of  spring,  it  then  being  the  month  of  De- 
cember. After  carefully  examining  the  appearance  of  the  land  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  he  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  the 
Pekitanoni  of  the  Indians,  and,  without  making  any  delay,  he  immediately 
turned  his  boat  down  stream  and  landed  on  the  spot  which  has  since  be- 
come the  seat  of  the  great  metropolis  of  the  western  country.  He  had 
observed  the  location  in  ascending  the  river,  and  seeing  no  other  possess- 
ing similar  advantages,  he  determined  that  it  should  become  the  site  of 
the  village  he  proposed  to  establish. 

After  closely  examining  the  spot,  he  commenced  slicing  trees,  saying  to 
Auguste  Chouteau,  a  young  man  who  accompanied  -him  :  "You  will  come 
here  as  soon  as  the  river  will  be  free  from  ice,  and  will  cause  this  place 
to  be  cleared,  and  form  a  settlement  according  to  the  plan  I  shall  give 
you."  After  thus  marking  the  place,  he  again  set  out  for  Fort  de  Chartres, 
delighted  with  the  spot  he  had  chosen,  and  on  arriving  at  the  fort,  he 
told  M.  de  Neyon  and  his  officers,  "  that  he  had  found  a  situation  where 
he  intended  establishing  a  settlement,  which,  in  the  future,  would  become 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  cities  in  America."* 

The  place  being  selected  for  the  establishment  of  his  colony,  M.  Laclede 
Liguest  occupied  himself  during  the  winter  at  Fort  de  Chartres,  in  making 
preparations  to  take  possession  of  the  chosen  spot  at  the  commencement 
of  spring.  Having  early  perfected  his  arrangements,  and  there  being  no 
hindrance  from  ice,  he  selected  a  choice  body  of  men,  consisting  of  the 
flower  of  the  expedition,  being  nearly  all  mechanics,  and  placed  them 
under  the  direction  of  Auguste  Chouteau,  who  acted  as  his  lieutenant,  and 
for  whom  and  his  family  he  always  entertained  a  singular  affection. 

There  were  about  thirty  men  under  the  charge  of  the  young  man,  and 
M.  Laclede  Liguest  gave  to  him,  with  other  orders,  the  following  instruc- 
tions: "You  will  go  and  disembark  at  the  place  where  we  marked  the 
trees;  you  will  commence  to  clear  the  place,  and  build  a  large  shed  to 
contain  the  provisions  and  tools,  and  some  little  cabins  to  lodge  the 
men."f  Without  any  impediment  they  reached  the  place  of  their  desti- 
nation, and  disembarked  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  February,  1764,  at  the 
desired  place,  and  took  possession  of  the  soil  on  which  they  were  to  rear 
their  future  village.J  On  the  following  morning  the  men  commenced 
work  in  earnest,  and,  according  to  instructions,  began  the  building  of  the 
shed  in  which  to  store  the  tools  and  provisions,  and  also  the  small,  cabins 
to  serve  as  shelter  for  the  men. 

In  so  inclement  a  month  as  February,  the  hardy  pioneers  must  have 
been  subjected  to  exposure  and  hardship  which  most  of  the  present  pam- 
pered inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  can  scarcely  reconcile  with  human  endur- 

*  Colonel  Auguste  Chouteau's  journal. 

f  Idem. 

|  In  the  journal  of  M.  Chouteau,  written  in  his  native  tongue,  there  is  some  alter- 
ntion  in  the  manuscript  as  regards  dates,  and  the  author,  feeling  some  doubts  whether 
the  alterations  had  been  made  by  him,  has  adopted  the  generally  received  opinion  as 
regards  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  party  who  came  from  Fort  de  Chartres  to  com- 
mence the  village. 


242  THE    GKEAT   WEST 


ance.  In  those  early  clays,  the  luxury  of  life  consisted  in  braving  its 
vicissitudes,  and  the  Spartan  education  forced  upon  the  inhabitants  from 
necessity,  created  from  habit,a  love  of  danger  and  a  wish  for  the  wild  ex- 
citement of  pioneer  life,  though  unfruitful  of  gain  and  subjected  to  every 
deprivation.  To  mingle  with  the  savages,  to  follow  the  chase,  and  to  live 
secluded  in  the  wilderness  for  months,  following  the  hazardous  business  of 
trapping  and  hunting,  formed  almost  the  entire  occupation  of  most  of  the 
French  inhabitants  of  that  period.  A  little  season  of  frolic  with  their  light- 
hearted  countrymen,  when  they  returned  to  the  haunts  of  civilization  to 
dispose  of  their  peltries,  amply  rewarded  them  for  all  their  fatigue  and 
danger;  and  then,  quickly  surfeited,  they  again  sighed  for  the  Indian  and 
the  wilderness.  Even  the  artisans  were  often  lured  from  their  peaceful 
avocations,  and  following  the  chase  for  a  brief  season,  were  not  strangers 
to  the  rough  fare  and  hardships  incident  to  the  hunter's  life.  They  learned 
to  live  upon  and  relish  dried  buffalo  meat  or  whatever  game  fortune  threw 
in  their  way.  They  could  pillow  on  the  earth  and  sleep  unsheltered  under 
the  canopy  of  heaven,  without  thinking  it  a  hardship. 

The  followers  of  Pierre  Laclede  Liguest  were  men  of  this  stamp  ;  brave, 
light-hearted,  and  inured  to  hardship.  They  probably  spent  the  first  night 
of  their  landing  in  sitting  round  their  camp-fire,  engaged  in  cooking  and 
eating,  in  telling  long  stories  of  perilous  adventure,  in  passing  around  the 
innocent  jest,  or  in  singing  some  national  songs  which  brought  to  their 
memories  all  the  pride  with  which  Frenchmen  regard  their  native  land. 
In  a  few  days  the  sheds  and  cabins  were  finished,  and  in  the  early  part 
of  March,  Laclede  Liguest  having  arrived,  the  plan  of  the  village  was  laid 
out,  and  the  site  selected  where  he  wished  his  house  to  be  built.  He 
named  the  place  St.  Louis,  in  honor  of  Louis  XV.,  king  of  France.  He 
little  knew,  at  that  time,  his  king  had  disposed  of  the  whole  of  the  vast 
country  west  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  king  of  Spain.2 

Laclede  Liguest  remained  but  a  very  short  time  at  St.  Louis,  being  com- 
pelled to  return  to  Fort  de  Chartres  to  make  hasty  arrangements  for  the 
removal  of  his  goods,  as  it  was  daily  expected  that  the  place  wolud  be 
given  up  to  the  English.  He  therefore  laid  out  a  sufficiency  of  work  for 
the  men,  who  were  left,  as  before,  under  the  direction  of  Anguste  Chou- 
teau,  while  he  returned  to  Fort  de  Chartres  to  attend  to  his  merchan- 
dise. Before  his  departure,  a  large  arrival  of  the  Missouri  Indians 
gave  much  uneasiness  to  the  new  settlement.  They  had  heard  of  the 
large  advent  of  the  white  men  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
being  nearly  destitute  of  provisions,  a  whole  village  came  down  to  St. 
Louis  to  get  a  supply  of  the  necessaries  of  life — in  other  words,  they  came 
on  a  begging  expedition.  There  were  some  hundred  and  fifty  warriors, 
besides  a  fair  proportion  of  women  and  children,  and  their  arrival,  at  first, 
was  looked  npon  with  distrust, and  probably  with  some  emotions  of  fear; 
for  they  out-numbered  the  colonists  five  to  one,  and  could  have  been  very 
troublesome  had  they  evinced  any  hostile  intentions.  However  dishon- 
orable their  designs,  they  appeared  to  have  no  idea  of  personal  violence, 
and  satisfied  themselves  with  what  they  could  gain  by  begging,  with  the 
chances  of  pilfering,  which  they  never  neglected  to  embrace. 

The  presence  of  the  Missouri  Indians,  notwithstanding  their  amicable 
bearing,  was  a  source  of  continual  uneasiness,  as  they  always  treated  any 
suggestion  of  departure  with  an  obstinate  refusal.  The  whole  colony  was 


AND    HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  243 

kept  likewise  on  the  alert  lest  so  muck  temptation  to  their  cupidity  might 
excite  them  to  some  act  of  distrust  and  violence.  It  was  thought  best  at 
this  juncture  by  Laclede  Liguest,  to  take  some  measures  to  cause  the  re- 
moval of  these  Indians,  as  their  presence  seriously  conflicted  with  the 
advance  of  the  colony.  Already  many  who  had  come  over  from  Cahokia, 
at  that  time  called  Caos,  to  take  part  in  the  future  fortunes  of  the  colonists, 
became  alarmed  at  the  presence  of  the  Missouri  Indians,  and  had  removed 
again  to  their  old  homes ;  for  they  feared  that  the  establishment  of  a 
colony  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi  River  would  be  regarded  with 
disfavor  by  the  many  warlike  tribes  on  the  Missouri,  who  might  forget 
their  ancient  feuds,  and  make  common  cause  against  a  people  to  whose 
advance  there  appeared  no  limit. 

Laclede  Liguest,  by  his  decision  of  character,  joined  with  the  knowl- 
edge of  what  measures  have  the  most  effective  influence  on  the  savage 
mind,  soon  forced  the  departure  of  the  Missouri  Indians,  and  relieved  the 
colony  of  their  presence.  They  were,  however,  very  obstinate  in  their 
endeavor  to  remain.  After  receiving  a  supply  of  provisions,  they  became 
so  well  pleased  with  their  new  friends,  that  they  professed  their  inten- 
tion of  always  remaining  near  them,  and  of  building  a  village  around 
them.  They  said  "  that  they  were  like  ducks  and  buzzards,  who  sought 
the  open  water  to  rest,  and  could  not  find  a  spot  more  suitable  for  their 
purpose  than  the  place  where  they  then  were."*  By  threatening  them  with 
the  vengeance  of  the  French  troops  stationed  at  Fort  do  Chartres,  if  they 
persisted  in  remaining,  Laclede  Liguest  frightened  them  into  a  departure. 

The  whole  lot  of  ground  situated  between  Market  and  Walnut,  and 
Main  and  Second  streets,  three  hundred  feet  square,  where  Barnum's  hotel 
now  stands,  once  made  part  of  the  large  landed  possessions  of  Laclede 
Liguest,  and  it  was  on  it  that  the  house  was  built  which  he  first  inhabited 
and  the  sheds  and  cabins  of  the  men  were  on  the  east  square.  On  these 
squares  was  the  commencement  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  The  dirt  from 
the  cellar  of  the  house  was  removed  by  the  Missouri  squaws,  for  beads 
and  other  trinkets  which  they  highly  prized. 

It  becomes  now  necessary  to  break  off  the  thread  of  the  narrative, 
which  cannot  be  pursued  any  farther  at  the  present  time  with  lucidity. 
We  have  before  alluded  to  the  fact  that  when  Laclede  Liguest  named  St. 
Louis  in  honor  of  the  king  of  France,  he  thought  himself  at  that  time  the 
subject  of  Louis  XV.,  and  did  not  dream  that  the  whole  soil  west  of  the 
Mississippi  River  had  been  ceded  to  the  king  of  Spain.  He  was  aware 
that  the  whole  country  east  of  the  Mississippi,  with  the  exception  of  New 
Orleans,  had  been  passed  over  to  England,  together  with  Canada,  and 
when  the  news  reached  the  villages  and  settlements  there  was  a  general 
mourning  among  the  inhabitants,  who  possessed  a  feudal  antipathy  to  the 
English,  and  who  cursed,  without  stint,  the  cowardice  or  policy  of  their 
monarch,  who  transferred  them  to  the  allegiance  of  their  most  detested 
foe.  They  envied  the  few  inhabitants  on  the  west  side  of  the  great  river, 
believing  that  they  were  still  the  subjects  of  la  belle  France.  They  were, 
however,  suffering  a  delusion,  for  the  whole  of  Louisiana  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi had  been  transferred  to  Spain,  even  before  the  treaty  of  Paris  in 
1763. 

*  Colonel  Augusts  Chouteau's  journal. 


244  THE   GREAT   WEST 


France,  placed  under  an  imbecile  monarch,  and  involved  in  pecuniary 
difficulties,  entered  into  a  secret  treaty  with  Spain  in  1762,  and  ceded  to 
her  all  of  her  possessions  west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  including  the  city 
of  New  Orleans.  What  the  terms  of  this  treaty  were  the  world  never 
knew,  but  the  natural  inference  to  be  drawn  from  the  mystery  and  secrecy 
which  shrouded  it  was,  that  it  was  in  a  high  degree  discreditable  to 
France.  The  time  when  this  secret  treaty  became  known  will  be  devel- 
oped in  the  natural  course  of  this  narrative,  as  it  is  intimately  interwoven 
with  the  events  which  form  a  part  of  this  history. 

After  thus  premising,  we  will  return  to  the  direct  events  attending  the 
settlement  of  St.  Louis.  On  the  departure  of  the  Missouri  Indians,  the 
new  colony,  after  finishing  the  necessary  houses  for  their  accommodation, 
soon  gave  indications  of  a  thrifty  appearance.  The  inhabitants  of  Caho- 
kia,  Kaskaskia  and  other  villages  of  the  Illinois,  having  a  great  aversion 
for  English  rule,  left  their  homes  and  settled  in  the  new  town,  swelling 
the  number  of  its  inhabitants  and  adding  to  its  resources.  To  this  large 
accession  of  the  French  inhabitants  of  Illinois,  who  thought  they  had  re- 
moved to  a  soil  long  to  be  governed  by  the  laws  of  France,  may  be  attrib- 
uted the  increase,  growth,  and  vital  indications  which  attended  St.  Louis 
even  at  that  early  period. 

Under  the  direction  of  Laclede  Liguest,  a  man  of  rare  energy  of  char- 
acter, and  every  way  competent  to  be  at  the  head  of  a  new  colony,  if 
from  the  little  that  is  left  us  of  his  history  we  can  form  an  opinion,  the 
great  business  for  which  he  had  come  from  New  Orleans  was  soon  estab- 
lished, and  the  trade  with  the  Indians  commenced.  Before  this,  all  of  the 
trade  in  peltry  had  been  carried  on  at  Cahokia  and  Kaskaskia,  but  at  the 
establishment  of  the  trading  post  at  St.  Louis,  the  trade  in  those  places 
commenced  to  languish,  and  by  degrees  was  transferred  to  the  new  settle- 
ment west  of  the  Mississippi.  The  reason  for  this  change  of  place  in  the 
peltry  trade  is  not  to  be  accounted  for  solely  on  the  ground  of  the  superior 
sagacity  of  the  founder  of  St.  Louis  in  directing  the  channels  of  trade  to 
the  place  he  had  founded,  but  other  circumstances  had  their  force  in  effect- 
ing it, 

As  has  been  before  observed,  directly  it  became  known  that  the  Eng- 
lish were  about  to  take  possession  of  the  Illinois  country  east  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi (a  large  portion  of  Upper  Louisiana  at  that  time  went  by  the 
name  of  the  Illinois  country),  many  of  the  inhabitants  removed  to  St. 
Louis,  carrying  with  them  their  business  and  their  capital.  This  emigra- 
tion from  Illinois  was  chiefly  from  Cahokia  and  Kaskaskia,  the  chief  vil- 
lages, thereby  weakening  their  trade  and  diminishing  their  resources.  It 
is  also  a  well  known  fact  that  the  Indians  have  always  had  an  aversion  to 
the  English  from  their  first  intercourse  with  that  people,  and  immediately 
that  they  received  possession  of  the  country  east  of  the  Mississippi,  the 
savages,  from  a  repugnance  to  their  laws  and  their  customs,  no  more 
sought  to  trade  with  the  towns  which  were  under  their  domination,  but 
turned  their  attention  to  the  new  trading  post  on  the  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, which  was  inhabited  only  by  Frenchmen  and  apparently  belonging 
to  the  domain  of  France.  For  the  French  the  Indians  had  cordial  teel- 
ings  and  a  fraternal  regard  ;  for  the  English  their  feelings  were  worm- 
wood and  gall. 

When  St.  Louis  became  the  favorite  place  for  the  peltry  trade,  which 


AND    HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  245 

it  owed  mostly  to  the  reasons  we  have  given  and  somewhat  to  its  loca- 
tion being  contiguous  to  the  Missouri,  upon  whose  waters  so  many  tribes 
of  Indians  dwelt,  it  became  a  still  farther  inducement  for  a  place  of  resi- 
dence, which,  together  with  the  unpopularity  of  the  English  rule,  caused 
a  continual  emigration  from  the  villages  east  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  a 
little  more  than  a  year  from  its  establishment,  it  became  evident,  that  it 
was  going  to  be  a  town  of  importance,  and  would  be  the  leading  business 
place  in  Upper  Louisiana. 

For  more  than  a  year  after  St.  Louis  was  founded,  the  inhabitants  were 
contented  and  happy,  and  lived  in  a  state  of  perfect  harmony.  There  were 
no  statutes,  no  lawgivers,  no  prisons.  There  were  a  few  leading  inhabi- 
tants who  were  looked  upon  in  the  light  of  patriarchs  by  the  rest,  to 
whom  were  submitted  any  little  differences  that  would  arise,  and  whose 
opinions  had  all  the  force  of  judicial  decisions. 

The  people  who  formed  the  first  settlement  at  St.  Louis  were  a  different 
people  from  those  which  form  the  present  population  of  the  Great  Metrop- 
olis of  the  West.  Almost  all  of  them  were  natives  of  the  province  of 
Louisiana  or  Canada,  and  consequently  from  their  childhood  had  been 
unaccustomed  to  the  luxuries  of  life,  and  were  strangers  to  the  artificial 
wants  incident  to  older  countries,  and  created  by  the  indulgences  of  a 
more  advanced  stage  of  civilization.  Divested  of  all  extravagance  in 
their  wishes,  they  did  not  pursue  wealth  with  the  devotion  so  character- 
istic of  modern  days.  They  did  not  make  it  a  god,  for  whom  they  were 
ready  to  sacrifice  all  of  their  temporal  comforts  and  peril  their  eternal 
welfare.  Contented  with  little,  they  had  no  motive  to  great  exertion,  and 
when  their  simple  desires  were  satisfied,  th^y  endeavored  to  cultivate 
the  art  of  being  happy  with  each  other. 

At  that  early  time  there  was  a  fraternal  bond  which  united  the  com- 
munity. There  was  but  little  division  of  interest,  there  were  no  castes  of 
society,  no  temptations  to  test  human  weakness.  All  were  on  an  equality, 
with  the  same  habits  and  tastes.  Their  little  cabins,  formed  by  logs  set 
upon  their  ends,  and  then  roofed  in,  were  the  very  rendezvous  of  happiness. 
The  dance,  the  festive  song,  the  uncontrolled  mirth,  all  bore  evidence  that 
their  spirits  were  untrammelled  by  the  selfish  cares  of  life,  and  revelled  in 
the  sans  souci  ecstasy  of  simple  pleasures.  Enjoyment  was  the  aim  and 
end  of  their  being ;  and  though  they  were  wofully  deficient  in  mental 
cultivation,  their  tastes  did  not  flow  into  those  vicious  channels  so  charac- 
teristic of  an  ignorant  people ;  they  were  marked  by  simplicity  and  un- 
tainted by  degradation. 

Such  were  the  characteristics  of  the  first  settlers  of  St.  Louis,  who, 
though  settling  in  -a  wilderness,  and  suffering  the  almost  numberless  depri- 
vations inseparable  from  an  infant  colony,  yet  enjoyed  a  larger  measure 
of  happiness,  and  had  less  of  culpable  frailties  than  the  inhabitants  who 
now  dwell  in  the  city  they  founded. 

It  was  in  April,  1764,  that  M.  d'Abbadie,  the  commandant-general  of 
the  province  of  Louisiana,  received  orders  from  the  sovereign  of  France  to 
proclaim  to  the  people  the  surrender  of  all  the  French  possessions  west  of 
the  Mississippi  to  the  power  of  Spain.  At  this  intelligence  the  people  of  New 
Orleans  were  almost  maddened  with  rage,  and  publicly  avowed  that  they 
would  not  submit  to  the  foreign  allegiance  which  their  imbecile  sovereign 
would  impose  upon  them.  The  treaty  with  England  had  been  unpopular,  and 


24(1  THE   GEEAT    WEST 


Louis  had  been  abused  for  his  pusillanimity ;  but  when  this  secret  treaty 
with  Spain  was  promulgated,  and  it  became  known  that  France  had  not  a 
tittle  of  claim  to  all  of  her  vast  possessions  which  were  hers  two  years  before 
in  America,  the  ire  of  the  French  was  aroused,  their  national  pride  mor- 
tified, they  heaped  curses  on  the  head  of  their  king  and  his  ministers,  and 
declared  they  would  not  be  alienated  from  their  mother  country.  M. 
d'Abbadie  was  so  overwhelmed  with  grief  at  the  orders  he  had  received 
that  he  died  of  grief  some  months  afterward.* 

It  was  not  many  months  before  the  distressing  intelligence  reached  the 
new  colony  at  St.  Louis,  that  they  were  no  longer  subjects  of  France,  and 
the  same  grief  and  rage  were  manifested  by  the  inhabitants  which  had 
been  evinced  by  the  people  of  New  Orleans.  For  a  brief  season  there 
was  an  interruption  to  the  dance,  the  song,and  the  festive  hour;  and  the 
little  cabins  sounded  with  maledictions  against  a  monarch  who  had  trans- 
ferred them  to  other  laws,  and  a  foreign  allegiance.  There  was  one  hope 
to  which  they  clung  with  all  the  ardor  incident  to  sanguine  tempera- 
ments, which  was,  that  the  subjects  of  France  residing  in  the  country  west 
of  the  Mississippi  would  never  consent  to  be  governed  by  the  laws  of 
Spain.  Whatever  spirit  of  resistance  was  avowed  by  the  inhabitants  of 
New  Orleans,  was  fully  indorsed  by  the  people  of  St.  Louis ;  and  it  was 
this  universal  profession  of  resistance  which  prevented  Spain  from  forcing 
upon  them  sooner,  the  laws  she  had  aright  to  impose  on  the  soil  she  had 
properly  acquired.  However,  Spain  attempted  a  conciliating  policy,  and 
determined  upon  waiting  until  the  first  ebullition  of  feeling  had  subsided, 
before  she  would  attempt  to  exercise  her  authority.  In  the  proper  place 
we  will  state  the  time  and^vents  incident  to  the  Spaniards  taking  posses- 
sion of  the  country  they  had  acquired  by  the  secret  treaty  of  1702. 

As  has  been  before  observed,  for  the  first  months  of  its  existence,  there 
were  no  appointments  of  officers  in  the  little  colony  to  put  into  force  any 
prescribed  law,  or  to  arrest  for  its  violation.  The  rights  of  person  and 
property  were  respected,  and  the  little  community,  without  having  the 
overshadowing  power  of  the  law  and  its  terrors,  were  obedient  to  its  max- 
ims from  a  sense  of  duty,  and  in  no  formal  manner  did  they  give  up  any 
of  those  natural  rights  which  form  the  basis  of  constituted  societies.  There 
were  among  them  those  in  whom  there  was  a  general  confidence,  and  to 
those  as  to  fathers,  were  submitted  any  trivial  differences  which  disturbed 
the  usual  friendly  relations. 

Pierre  Laclede  Liguest,  by  the  authority  which  naturally  vested  in 
him,  by  being  the  active  representative  of  a  company  existing  under  the 
sanction  of  royal  authority,  was  looked  upon  with  superior  respect  and 
as  the  natural  head  of  the  colony.  He  had  many  implied  as  well  as  ex- 
press prerogatives,  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  ever  attempted  to 
abuse  them.  From  all  the  records  which  remain  that  throw  any  light 
upon  his  character,  and  all  of  the  reports  handed  down  by  tradition,  he 
attended  strictly  to  his  business  as  merchant  and  trader,  and  ventured 
upon  no  legislative  authority — which  he  could  (have  done  undisputed,  to  a 
moderate  extent.  According  to  the  rights  of  a  company  existing  under 
a  royal  charter,  he  could  possess  himself  of  any  quantity  of  land  necessary 
for  the  requirements  of  the  company,  and  had  the  power  of  apportioning 

*  Marbois's  History  of  Louisiana,  p.  136. 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  247 

it  to  individuals  who  wished  to  settle  in  the  precincts  of  the  village  he 
had  established.  This  possession  of  land  was  only  a  usufructuary  pos- 
session, remaining  in  force  uhtil  the  legal  appointment  of  proper  officers 
vested  with  power  to  confer  grants,  and  it  then  became  necessary  for  the 
representative  of  a  company  and  also  for  those  who  had  received  an  ap- 
portionment to  apply  by  way  of  petition  for  grants,  which,  if  the  conditions 
were  complied  with,  would  give  them  a  fee  simple  right  to  the  soil. 

In  the  summer  of  1765,  St.  Louis  received  the  addition  of  upward  of 
forty  soldiers,  under  the  command  of  Louis  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive,  from 
Fort  de  Chartres,  which  had  been  given  up,  with  due  formality,  but  with 
a  sense  of  humiliation,  to  Captain  Sterling,  the  English  officer  appointed 
to  take  possession  in  the  name  of  his  country.  Whether  this  advent  of 
Louis  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive  was  authorized  by  M.  Aubri,  the  command- 
ant-general at  New  Orleans,  or  whether  it  is  to  be  attributed  to  a  volun- 
tary act  on  his  part,  can  never  with  certainty  be  decided ;  we  have  only 
the  light  of  surrounding  circumstances  from  which  to  form  an  opinion, 
and  we  are  inclined  to  the  belief  that  he  had  received  orders  from  his 
superior  in  New  Orleans  to  remove  to  St.  Louis ;  for  the  inhabitants,  at 
that  time,  both  of  Upper  and  Lower  Louisiana,  had  come  to  the  firm  con- 
clusion of  resisting  to  the  last  extremity,  any  attempt  of  the  Spaniards  to 
enforce  their  authority  in  the  town  of  New  Orleans  or  on  the  west  banks 
of  the  Mississippi.  These  hostile  intentions,  so  manifest  at  the  time,  prob- 
ably induced  the  commandant-general  to  give  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive 
instructions  to  remove  to  St.  Louis  with  the  few  troops  remaining  in  his 
charge  after  the  evacuation  of  Fort  de  Chartres.  This,  of  course,  is  only 
a  conjecture,  but  we  would  think  it  was  inconsistent  with  the  character 
of  a  royal  officer's  fame,  on  his  own  authority  to  remove  to  any  post  with 
the  troops  under  his  command.  He  was  an  officer  under  the  king,  and 
had  no  room  to  act,  except  in  obedience  to  the  dictates  of  his  superiors. 

The  arrival  of  troops  in  a  country  during  the  time  of  peace  is  no  profit- 
able acquisition,  and  especially  in  a  new  colony  where  there  is  usually  no 
surplus  of  provisions  and  a  dearth  of  nearly  all  the  necessaries  of  life.  The 
arrival,  then,  of  these  forty  soldiers  from  Fort  de  Chartres,  in  a  commercial 
point  of  view,  was  of  no  advantage  to  St.  Louis.  They  did  not  add  to  its 
number  of  industrious-  inhabitants,  but  had  the  effect  of  creating  a  still 
greater  disposition  to  indolence,  already  too  prevalent  among  them. 

These  soldiers, from  their  early  manhood, had  been  subjected  to  military 
life,  and  from  habit,  were  fit  for  no  other  purpose.  A  little  while  after 
Jheir  arrival,  the  effect  of  their  presence  became  manifest,  and  there  was 
more  of  a  disposition  in  the  community  to  indulge  in  idleness  and  the  low 
vices  it  always  generates.  Quarrels  and  disputes,  fighting  and  dissipation, 
and  the  invasion  of  the  right  of  property,  became  rife  among  the  inhab- 
itants, and  it  became  necessary  that  there  should  be  established  a  power 
which  should  be  effective  in  preserving  the  peace  of  the  community,  and 
at  once  to  suppress  the  growth  of  those  injurious  predispositions,  which 
were  increasing  to  an  alarming  degree,  and  militated  against  the  health- 
ful advance  of  the  settlement. 

St.  Ange  de  Bellerive  was  most  popular,  both  as  an  officer  and  a  man, 
and  according  to  the  general  wish  of  the  inhabitants,  he  was  placed  at 
the  head  of  affairs,  and  exercised  all  the  functions  of  a  commandant-gen- 
eral. He  was  not  only  a  favorite  among  his  countrymen,  but  his  name 


24:8  THE    GREAT   WEST 


acted  as  a  talisman  in  securing  the  respect  and  affection  of  the  Indians. 
They  knew  him  as  the  inveterate  foe  of  the  English,  and  that  in  itself  was 
virtue  sufficient  in  their  eyes  to  enlist  their  affection  ;  but  there  was 
another  most  potent  cause — he  was  the  friend  of  Pontiac,  the  great  chief 
of  the  Ottawas — the  demigod  of  the  savages.  It  was  only  by  the  per- 
suasions of  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive  that  the  great  Indian  chieftain  consented 
to  bury  the  tomahawk,  which  had  been  raised  for  so  many  years  against 
the  English,  and  made  his  name  a  terror  to  their  settlements.  When  all 
of  his  allies  forsook  him,  and  it  became  evident  that  success  was  impossi- 
ble, St.  Angc  de  Bellerive  persuaded  him  to  abandon  a  forlorn  hope,  and 
consent  to  peace,  when  arms  could  no  longer  avail  him.  Pontiac  acted 
in  obedience  with  his  wishes,  for  he  knew  that  St.  Ange  was  no  friend  of 
the  English,  and  would  not  advise  him  to  peace  were  there  any  hope  in  a 
hostile  policy. 

The  regard  of  the  Indian  chief  was  sufficient  to  conciliate  the  regard  of 
all  the  Indian  tribes,  and  this  known  fact,  together  with  his  weight  of  char- 
acter, made  him  the  most  prominent  man  in  St.  Louis,  who  combined  in 
himself  the  proper  requisites  which  suited  the  people  in  their  emergency. 
By  their  unanimous  wish  he  was  vested  with  the  authority  of  command- 
ant-general, with  full  power  to  grant  lands,  and  to  do  all  other  acts  con- 
sistent with  his  office,  as  though  he  held  it  by  royal  authority.  The  people 
of  St.  Louis  stood  in  need  of  some  one  vested  with  the  power  of  com- 
mandant-general, who  could  give  some  title  to  property,  and  to  keep  off 
that  confusion  which  was  rapidly  prevailing  concerning  a  confliction  of 
titles  arising  from  priority  of  possession. 

St.  Ange  de  Bellerive  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Laclede  Liguest,  the 
founder  of  the  town,  and  like  him,  never  entered  into  the  married  rela- 
tions of  life,  and  was  in  every  way  worthy  of  the  new  trust  reposed  in 
him. 

The  first  grant  of  land  made  by  St.  Ange  in  his  new  authority,  is  re- 
corded in  a  book  which  was  ke^)t  for  the  purpose,  and  appropriately  called 
Livre  Terrein.  This  grant  of  land,  the  first  that  is  recorded,  was  made 
to  one  Joseph  Labuxiere,  and  had  a  front  of  three  hundred  feet  on  Royal 
street  (now  Main),  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  depth  running  to 
the  river.  All  of  our  readers  are  acquainted  with  the  block  where  the 
Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri  stands.  It  was  of  this  block  that  the  first 
grant  was  made  under  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive,  as  recorded  in  the  Land 
Book. 

From  a  diligent  examination  of  this  ancient  record  we  see  that  two 
judges,  a  procureur-general  and  a  notary  had  been  appointed,  and  this 
was  done  also  most  probably  by  the  commandant-general  at  New  Orleans, 
whose  power  was  limited  to  the  appointment  of  those  officers,  and  did  not 
extend  to  the  appointment  of  any  one  invested  with  the  authority  of 
granting  lands ;  as  before  a  necessity  of  such  a  thing  occurring  in  tapper 
Louisiana,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  St.  Louis  had  not  been  founded,  and 
the  sovereign  of  France,  after  that  time,  had  no  power  of  appointing  offi- 
cers over  a  country  which  he  had  transferred  to  another  power.  All  that 
Aubri,  the  commandant-general  of  New  Orleans,  could  do,  he  probably 
did,  by  the  appointment  of  the  officers  which  we  have  before  mentioned. 
That  it  was  by  his  approbation  that  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive  accepted  of 
the  authority  with  which  the  people  vested  in  him,  there  is  no  doubt  of; 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  2-iD 

_i _ , — . — — 

for  lie  was  too  honorable  an  officer,  and  knew  too  well  his  duty,  to  con- 
sent to  administer  an  authority  which,  until  superseded  by  the  Spanish 
government,  was  vested  in  the  commandant-general  at  New  Orleans,  pre- 
vious to  the  secret  treaty  of  1762.  The  first  grant  of  land  in  the  Livre 
Terrein  is  dated  the  twenty-seventh  of  April,  1766. 

After  the  occupation  of  the  English  of  the  forts  on  the  east  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, for  many  years  there  was  but  little  intercourse  between  the  in- 
habitants occupying  the  different  banks  of  the  river,  and  though  the  grant 
of  property  was  of  a  precarious  nature  in  St.  Louis,  from  the  circumstance 
that  it  did  not  proceed  from  a  properly  appointed  officer,  and  whose 
grants  could  all  be  annulled  whenever  the  Spaniards  would  enforce  their 
claim,  as  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive  received  his  appointment  after  it  was  known 
at  Orleans  that  the  country  had  been  ceded  to  Spain ;  yet  the  French  in- 
habitants still  continued  to  cross  the  Mississippi  to  St.  Louis,  anxious  to 
be  under  the  domination  of  laws  which  suited  their  habits  of  life,  and 
averse  to  being  brought  in  contact  with  a  race  for  whom  they  had  a 
feudal  antipathy.  They  hated  the  English  and  English  laws,  and  all 
who  could  remove  without  the  greatest  sacrifice  of  property  did  so. 

The  land  where  St.  Louis  stands  was  claimed  by  the  Illinois  Indians, 
yet  they  tacitly  assented  to  its  occupancy  by  the  French,  and  never  ap- 
peared to  urge  any  remuneration  for  the  heritage  they  had  been  despoiled 
of  without  their  consent.  In  those  days,  the  legality  of  Indian  claims  was 
not  acknowledged  by  the  white  man,  who  settled  wherever  lucre  or  other 
selfish  feelings  prompted,  and  appropriated  lands  without  any  inquiry  as 
to  his  right.  In  those  early  times  they  were  termed  savages,  and  were 
treated  as  beings  having  no  benefit  in  any  thing  created  by  an  act  of  civ- 
ilization. Law  was  not  made  to  protect  them,  and  their  property  was 
invaded  with  impunity. 

Though  all  the  country  between  St.  Louis  and  the  Pacific  ocean  was  a 
wilderness  where  swarmed  the  most  numerous  and  savage  tribes  of  Indians 
on  the  American  continent,  the  inhabitants  of  the  little  colony  established 
by  Liguest  appear  never  during  his  life  to  have  become  embroiled 
with  their  savage  neighbors,  and  after  the  departure  of  the  Missouri  In- 
dians never  to  have  dreaded  their  interference.  This  was  the  more  sin- 
gular as  St.  Louis  on  every  side  was  surrounded  with  them,  and  from  any 
of  the  cardinal  points,  the  war-whoops  of  thousands  of  warriors  could  have 
been  heard  at  its  doors,  had  a  spirit  of  revenge  excited  them  to  a  hostile 
demonstration.  Had  the  English  founded  the  settlement,  history  would 
doubtless  have  had  to  record  a  different  state  of  facts.  It  appears  to  have 
been  the  nature  or  the  destiny  of  that  nation,  to  have  provoked  the  hos- 
tility of  the  Indians  in  the' formation  of  every  new  settlement  contiguous 
to  the  wilds  where  they  roamed.  What  it  did  in  the  way  of  civilization 
on  the  American  continent,  was  done  contrary  to  every  principle  of  re- 
ligion, and  in  violation  of  the  natural  promptings  of  humanity.  On  what- 
ever soil  it  placed  its  foot,  it  had  first  to  be  drenched  in  human  blood 
before  it  could  be  possessed  in  peace.  They  profaned  the  sacred  name 
of  civilization  by  sacrificing  to  it,  in  the  same  horrid  manner  that  the 
heathen  did  to  Moloch  by  human  life. 

The  conciliatory  policy  of  the  French  had  always  made  them  favorites 
with  the  Indians;  nor  was  the  settlement  of  St.  Louis  an  exception  to  the 
general  custom.  Liguest  had  his  agents  established  far  in  the  wilds,  where 


250  THE   GREAT   WEST 


the  beaver,  buffalo  and  deer  were  the  most  plentiful,  and  where  his  emissa- 
ries were  completely  in  the  power  of  the  Indian;  yet  these  emissaries,  with 
the  pliancy  peculiar  to  their  nation,  adopted  at  once  the  habits  of  the  tribes 
•with  which  they  were  brought  in  contact.  They  hunted  with  them,  like 
them  could  endure  the  greatest  fatigue,  and  live  off  meat,  without  bread 
and  condiment.  These  characteristics  would  naturally  have  biased  the 
different  tribes  in  their  favor,  but  the  Frenchmen,  never  suffering  a  too 
severe  morality  to  interfere  with  what  they  thought  their  rightful  pleasures, 
would  marry  the  daughters  of  the  chiefs,  which,  besides  having  the 
luxury  of  a  wife  in  the  remote  wilds,  gave  them  an  influence  in  the  tribe, 
and  a  monopoly  in  the  fur  and  peltry  trade. 

The  peltry  trade,  with  some  little  of  lead,  formed  the  only  articles  of 
commerce  of  St.  Louis,  and  for  the  first  years  of  the  settlement,  Liguest, 
according  to  the  terms  of  the  charter,  monopolized  the  whole  trade. 
Whether  he  actually  kept  possession  of  the  trade  for  eight  years,  accord- 
ing to  the  terms  of  the  grant,  there  are  no  means  of  determining  at  the 
present  day,  but  from  the  amount  of  property  which  he  acquired,  some 
idea  of  which  we  will  furnish  the  reader  at  the  proper  time,  it  is  probable 
that  he  insisted  on  the  monopoly  to  the  extent  of  its  term.  The  secret 
treaty  of  1762  did  not  interfere  with  his  rights,  as  treaties  never  disturb 
the  validity  of  contracts  without  proper  indemnification.8 

When  Pierre  Laclede  Liguest,  in  the  spring  of  1764,  formed  the  plan 
of  the  village,  though  he  may  have  thought  he  was  liberal  in  the  dimen- 
sions of  its  outline;  yet  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  will  think  that  his 
ideas  of  its  future  grandeur  was  not  evinced  by  the  extent  of  its  bound- 
aries as  disclosed  by  the  map  to  which  the  reader  is  referred.  What  is 
now  Main  street  extended  from  what  is  known  as  Almond  to  Morgan 
street,  and  upon  it  all  of  the  first  settlements  were  made.  It  was  called 
La  Rue  Royale,  which  name  it  sustained  for  many  years,  until  it  was 
changed  to  that  of  La  Rue.principale.  What  is  now  known  as  Second 
street  extended  from  Cedar  to  Morgan.  In  the  early  grants  it  is  merely 
denominated  une  autre  rue  principale.  It  was  probably  known  by  no 
other  appellation  until  the  church  was  built,  or  preparation  was  made  to 
build  the  same  in  the  block  where  the  cathedral  now  stands ;  it  was  then 
changed  to  La  Rue  de  PEglise*  Between  1766  and  1780,  there  was 
another  street  named,  which  was  called  La  Rue  des  Granges,  or  The 
Street  of  the  Barns,  which  is  now  Third  street.f  These  were  the  dimen- 
sions of  the  town  which  Liguest  prophesied  to  M.  de  Neyon,  the  French 
commandant  at  Fort  de  Chartres,  would  "  be  the  most  beautiful  city  in 
America."  Though  the  circumscribed  plan  bore  no  relation  to  the  proph- 
ecy, yet  the  prophecy  has  become  true  in  less  than  a  century.4 

The  accompanying  map  exhibits  the  appearance  of  the  town  in  1780, 
just  after  it  had  been  fortified  by  Cruzat,  one  of  the  most  popular  of  the 
Spanish  commandants.  The  town  had  swelled  even  in  that  short  period 
beyond  the  dimensions  assigned  by  its  founder,  names  had  been  given 
to  the  streets,  and  the  place  had  assumed  the  features  of  a  respectable 
village,  containing  nearly  seven  hundred  inhabitants. 

When  Liguest  visited  the  spot  in    1  764,  there  was  a  narrow  strip  of 

*  Vide  Livre  Terrein.    The  various  grants  in  this  old  record  book  designate  the 
appellation  of  the  streets  on  or  about  the  time  they  were  named  by  the  inhabitants. 
f  This  street  was  commenced  being  opened  in  1803. 


ST.  JOHN'S  CHURCH  (ROMAN  CATHOLIC). 

Corner  of  11th  and  Chestnut  Streets. 

REV.  JOHN  BANNON,  Pastor. 


MISSOURI  INSTITUTION  FOR  THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  BLIND. 

Morgan  Street,  Corner  of  20th  Street. 
T.  M.  POST,  President.  C.  HAYWOOD,  Secretary. 

TRUSTEES. 

James  E.  Teatman.  S.  Pollock,  M.  D.  George  Partridge, 

E.  F.  Pittman.  George  S.  Drake. 

J.  B.  CHAPIN,  M.  D.,  Principal. 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  251 

wood  which  skirted  the  river,  which  extended  as  far  back  as  Fifth  street, 
but  not  in  a  direct  line,  as  stated  by  some  authors,  running  the  whole 
length  of  the  dimensions  of  the  town.  It  varied  in  its  breadth  in  differ- 
ent localities,  and  some  portions  of  the  margin  of  the  river  were  entirely 
free  from  any  timber.  The  largest  body  of  wood  was  where  the  first 
buildings  were  erected.  In  the  rear  of  the  village  was  an  extensive 
prairie,  termed  in  the  records  La  Grande  Prairie.*  There  was  no  fear 
then  of  the  "Father  of  Waters"  overleaping  his  barriers,  and,  as  if  to  repel 
his  invasion,  nature  had  formed  a  bluff  of  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  above 
the  natural  bed  of  the  Mississippi.  This  bluff  extended,  with  variation  in 
height,  the  whole  length  of  the  village.  At  a  little  distance  west  of  this 
bluff  was  a  gentle  swell,  and  on  this  rise  the  buildings  first  formed  a  vil- 
lage. There  were  two  other  swells,  the  last  of  which  was  bounded  by 
Fourth  street. 

With  the  exception  of  the  first  house  that  was  built  in  1764,  belong- 
ing to  Liguest,  which  had  its  first  story  built  of  stone,  previous  to  1766 
the  houses  were  built  of  logs  or  poles,  placed  upon  ends,  and  then  the 
square  shingled  at  the  top.  Some  were  daubed  with  mud,  and  others, 
whose  owners  were  in  a  better  condition  in  life,  were  plastered  within. 
They,  however,  exhibited  but  little  comfort,  and  though  they  answered 
well  the  purposes  of  the  inhabitants,  whose  wants  were  few,  and  who 
were  unaccustomed  to  the  luxuries  of  life,  they  would  have  been  looked 
upon  by  the  denizens  of  the  present  day  as  little  huts  unsuitable  for  the 
purposes  of  a  stable  or  a  shamble. 

After  the  advent  of  Louis  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive,  from  Fort  de  Chartres, 
when  a  government  became  instituted,  things  assumed  a  more  flattering 
appearance,  and  several  merchants  of  means,  seeing  the  village  under  the 
salutary  restraints  of  law,  became  residents  of  the  place,  and  built  more 
commodious  habitations.  Up  to  1766,  the  names  which  appear  to  have 
occupied  the  most  prominent  place  in  the  history  of  the  little  village  are 
Cerre,  Labadie,  Liguest,  Chouteau,  Sarpy,  Glamorgan,  Labuxiere,  Lafebre, 
Conde,  Ortes,  and  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive.f  All  other  families  who  have 
become  identified  with  the  history  of  St.  Louis  were  then  inhabitants  who 
made  no  important  figure,  and  have  since  reached  positions  of  impor- 
tance, or  fixed  their  residence  in  the  town  after  that  period. 

It  was  on  August  llth,  1766,J  that  Liguest  got  a  grant  of  land  where 
the  first  cabins  reared  in  the  town  were  built,  and  also  the  residence  he 
afterward  occupied,  and  which  after  his  death  became  a  portion  of  the 
Chouteau  property,  by  purchase,  and  on  which  was  raised  the  Chouteau 
mansion.  It  was  thought  at  that  time  that  France  would  make  some 
effort  to  have  retroceded  to  her  all  her  possessions  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  that  the  grants  made  by  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive  would 
then  be  legalized  by  confirmation.  Deputies  had  been  despatched  from 
New  Orleans  to  the  king  of  France,  imploring  him  to  take  some  measures 
to  that  effect,  as  his  subjects  could  be  happy  under  none  other  than  S 
French  domination.  At  the  same  date  with  the  grant  we  have  mentioned, 
Liguest  had  granted  to  him  a  portion  of  land  situated  on  La  Petite  Riv- 

*  Vide  Livre  Terrein  and  Archives, 
f  Ibid. 
•        Archives. 


• 

252  THE   GREAT   WEST 


iere,  on  which  he  caused  to  be  built  two  mills  for  grist  purposes,  one  of 
which  ran  by  water,  and  the  other  was  termed  a  horse-mill.  These  were 
the  first  mills  erected  in  St.  Louis,  and  were  probably  erected  some  time 
in  1766.* 

The  first  mortgage  recorded  in  the  archives  bears  date  the  twenty-ninth 
of  September,  1766,  and  is  made  by  one  Pierre  Berger  to  one  Francis  La- 
tour.  The  mortgage  is  a  curious  instrument,  and,  amidst  the  dearth  of 
other  information,  serves  to  give  an  insight  into  the  business  and  habits  of 
that  interesting  period.  Both  of  the  parties  acknowledge  themselves  as 
merchants  and  traders  largely  engaged  in  the  peltry  trade,  one  a  resident 
in  Canada,  and  the  other  temporarily  a  resident  of  St.  Louis.  The  mort- 
gage was  given  on  all  of  the  goods  owned  by  one  of  the  parties  as  security 
in  case  of  the  non-payment  of  so  many  bundles  of  deeV  skins  at  a  stipu- 
lated time.  This  first  mortgage  on  record  was  cancelled  some  years  after- 
ward by  a  simple  receipt  of  the  attorney  of  the  mortgagee,  acknowledg- 
ing the  payment,  attested  by  the  notary  of  the  town,  and  placed  on  record. 

The  year  1766  appears  to  have  been  fruitful  in  events,  and  furnishes 
much  of  the  data  for  the  history  of  the  town.  The  first  marriage  which 
is  recorded  among  the  archives  as  having  taken  place  in  the  new  settle- 
ment, is  dated  the  20th  of  April,  1766.  The  parlies  to  the  contract  are 
Toussaint  Hunau  and  Marie  Baugenon.  In  those  early  days  marriage 
appears  to  have  been  a  much  more  important  institution  than  in  the 
present  fast  days  of  progressive  civilization.  Then  the  parties  had  to  ap- 
pear previous  to  the  ceremony,  and  accompanied  by  their  friends  and  in 
the  presence  of  witnesses,  had  to  declare  their  intentions. 

In  these  marriage  contracts  there  was  a  great  deal  of  worldly  thrift  and 
policy.  The  god  of  Love  did  not  send  his  shafts  so  deep  into  the  veins  of 
his  victims  as  now,  causing  the  blood  to  burn  and  seethe,  and  making  them 
blind  and  forgetful  of  every  thing  else  in  their  haste  to  be  united  in  mat- 
rimonial bonds.  Then  there  was  no  ill-timed  precipitation;  no  "  marrying 
in  haste,  and  repenting  at  leisure."  The  parties,  or  at  least  their  friends 
for  them,  looked  upon  marriage  with  a  business  eye,  and  consummated  it 
in  a  business  manner.  The  contract  usually  averred  that  neither  of  the 
parties  was  responsible  for  the  debts  of  the  other  before  marriage  ;  gave 
the  amount  of  property  possessed  by  both,  together  with  the  declaration 
of  the  amount  they  were  to  receive  from  their  friends,  who  were  present, 
and  whose  promises  were  binding  on  them,  and  made  part  of  the  record. 
There  was  some  gift  of  a  small  sum  of  money  also  made  by  one  party 
to  the  other  as  a  gage  d*amour,  and  there  were  the  usual  reservations 
made  in  case  the  marriage  was  unfruitful,  and  one  of  them  surviving  the 
other.  These  marriage  contracts  are  singular  documents,  and  savor  too 
much  of  the  chilling  atmosphere  of  worldly  prudence.  True  affection 
being  a  divine  emanation  of  the  great  source  of  love,  should  be  divested 
of  every  interested  motive,  and  not  be  surrounded  too  much  with  provi- 
Hent  influences. 

In  the  grant  of  land  made  to  Liguest,  which  we  have  before  mentioned, 
bearing  date  the  llth  of  August,  1766,  and  containing  the  whole  block 
where  Barnum's  hotel  stands,  we  see  that  it  is  adjoining  the  land  which 

*  Those  mills  were  situated  on  what  is  now  known  as  Chouteau'a  Pond.  A  lime 
mill  stands  at  present  on  the  old  site. 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  253 

was  held  in  reservation  for  the  church  ;  so  the  land  on  which  the  cathe- 
dral stands  was  designed  for  a  catholic  church  previous  to  1766,  and  at 
the  laying  out  of  the  town.  The  French,  though  gay  and  volatile  in  their 
character,  have  always  a  great  respect  for  their  church,  and  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  every  colony  the  primary  consideration  has  always  been  to 
establish  a  place  of  worship  where  they  might  assemble  and  enjoy  the 
salutary  influences  of  religion.  Before  the  building  of  the  first  church, 
which  took  place  in  1770,  the  religious  rites  were  probably  performed 
under  some  temporary  shelter  made  for  the  purpose ;  for  we  see,  by  refer- 
ence to  an  old  record  of  baptism  in  possession  of  the  Catholic  church,  that 
the  first  baptism  in  the  new  colony  was  performed  in  1766,  by  Father 
Meurin,  who,  according  to  the  record,  "in  default  of  a  church,"  performed 
the  interesting  service  in  a  tent. 

The  founder  of  St.  Louis,  no  doubt,  intended  that  the  neighbor- 
hood of  his  residence,  which,  as  we  have  before  observed,  was  built 
on  the  block  between  Walnut  and  Market,  and  Second  and  Main 
streets,  should  always  be  the  roost  attractive  part  of  the  town  ;  for 
the  adjoining  .block  on  the  east  side,  was  designed,  at  the  laying 
out  of  the  city,  for  a  public  square,  and  was  called  La,  Place  d 
Armes.  The  large  *  warehouse  of  the  company  was  erected  near 
the  place,  and  stood  upon  the  spot  occupied  by  the  old  market.* 
Human  calculations,  as  regards  the  future,  are  ever  fallible,  and 
neither  the  church,  the  public  square,  nor  the  then  centre  of  business, 
could  long  render  that  the  most  attractive  part  of  the  town.  The  little 
public  square,  then  fronting  on  Main  street  and  running  1o  the  Mississippi, 
would  be  all-sufficient  as  a  park  for  a  little  village  in  its  swaddling  clothes; 
but  the  town  has  attained  a  Titan  growth  never  dreamed  of  by  Liguest 
in  his  calculations  as  to  its  future.  Its  wide  limits  demand  a  more  cen- 
tral point  of  attraction,  and  already  the  post  office,  the  index  of  a  central 
location,  is  far  removed  from  the  street  which  Liguest  thought  would  ever 
be  to  Saint  Louis  what  the  Corso  is  to  Rome,  and  the  Boulevard  is  to 
Paris. 

On  August  11,  1767,  the  town  of  St.  Louis  was  thrown  into  a  ferment 
by  the  arrival  of  news  from  New  Orleans,  of  the  intention  of  the  Spanish 
government  to  take  possession  of  the  country,  which  had  been  ceded  to 
it  under  the  secret  treaty  of  1762.  It  was  rumored  that  a  large  Spanish 
force  would  accompany  the  Spanish  commandant-general  to  New  Or- 
leans, and,  if  necessary,  would  enforce,  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  their 
authority. 

The  news,  which  had  convulsed  with  rage  the  inhabitants  of  New  Or- 
leans, seriously  disturbed  the  quiet  of  the  people  of  St.  Louis.  The 
whole  province  of  Louisiana  had  either  to  become  subjected  to  Spanish 
laws,  or  else  by  force  repel  any  attempt  on  their  part  to  establish  their 
power.  All  hopes  from  the  interference  of  France  were  futile,  and  the 
remonstrance  which  had  been  sent  to  its  sovereign,  by  deputations,  had 
been  unavailing.  The  cession  had  been  made  and  the  faith  of  the  mon- 
arch pledged  to  the  performance  of  the  treaty. 

It  was  while  the  whole  province  of  Louisiana  was  agitated  by  the  turbid 
feelings  of  distraction,  that  Ulloa,  the  representative  of  the  sovereign  of 

• 

*  Hunt's  Minutes,  No.  3,  page  72. 


254:  THE    GREAT    WEST 


Spain,  and  holding  the  office  of  commandant-general  of  Louisiana,  arrived 
in  New  Orleans,  and  his  representative  in  Upper  Louisiana,  Rios,  was 
despatched  to  St.  Louis  with  a  body  of  Spanish  troops  to  exercise  the 
functions  which  had  been  delegated"  to  him.  He  arrived  at  St.  Louis 
August  llth,  1768.  However,  when  he  found  that  the  pulse  of  the 
people  showed  unfavorable  symptoms  to  his  authority,  he  never  attempted 
to  exercise  the  powers  with  which  he  was  invested,  and  never  came  into 
any  collision  with,  the  inhabitants,  who  were  wholly  governed  by  the  ac- 
tions of  the  people  of  New  Orleans,  and  had  determined  at  that  time  to 
resist  the  Spanish  authority. 

When  Ulloa  was  compelled  to  take  his  departure  from  New  Orleans, 
he  probably  sent  instructions  to  Rios  to  evacuate  St.  Louis.  Whatever 
cause  influenced  him  to  this  act,  immediately  that  he  became  informed  of 
the  flight  of  his  superior  from  New  Orleans,  he  made  preparations  for  his 
own  departure  in  all  haste,  for  the  people  were  becoming  impatient  of 
his  presence.  He  left  St.  Louis  in  the  summer  of  1769,  with  the  few 
troops  under  his  command,  greatly  to  the  relief  of  the  inhabitants,  who 
were  kept  continually,  during  his  sojourn,  in  that  uneasy  state  which  the 
expectation  of  a  coming  collision  always  produces. 

When  the  Spanish  commandant  had  departed,  a  weight  of  oppression 
seemed  to  have  been  removed  from  the  minds  of  the  people,  and  their 
joyful  spirits,  which  for  many  months  had  been  imprisoned  by  the  re- 
straint put  upon  them  by  the  peculiar  circumstances  which  surrounded 
them,  again  bounded  forth  into  the  liberty  of  enjoyment  which  was  so 
characteristic  of  their  nature.  The  ringing  laugh,  the  festive  carol,  the 
merry  dance,  again  became  the  chief  elements  which  formed  the  happi- 
ness of  the  light-hearted  Creoles  at  that  early  day.  With  a  srnile  on  their 
brows,  and  the  warm  light  of  joy  flooding  their  hearts,  they  sought  their 
common  fields,  and  cultivated  the  little  lots  they  owned  in  severalty,  and 
which  furnished  them  the  little  that  was  required  for  their  subsistence. 

What  are  termedwcommon  fields,"wasatract  of  land  comprising  a  quan- 
tity of  acres,  according  to  the  wants  of  the  inhabitants,  in  which  each 
inhabitant  possessed  a  portion  for  the  purposes  of  cultivation.  They 
were  enclosed  at  the  joint  expense,  or  rather  each  one  furnished  his 
proportion  of  labor.  The  lots  were  properly  marked  off,  and  laws  were 
established  in  regard  to  the  repairing  fences,  the  time  for  gathering  crops, 
letting  in  and  turning  out  the  cattle,  <fec.  These  lots  were  obtained  by 
petition  and  grant,  and  belonged  to  the  inhabitants  as  fee  simple  prop- 
erty, each  orve  having  the  power  to  sell,  devise,  or  dispose  of  the  property 
in  any  of  the  forms  incident  to  fee  simple  possessions. 

The  French  and  Spanish,  who  were  founders  of  new  settlements,  inva- 
riably adopted  this  system  of  common  fields,  which  were  at  some  little 
distance  from  the  town,  and  which  the  inhabitants  jointly  cultivated.  It 
was  done  for  protection,  as  it  was  necessary  that  the  inhabitants  should 
all  reside  in  the  village,  so  as  to  be  ready  to  support  each  other,  in  case 
of  attack  from  the  natives  ;  and  when  engaged  in  their  agricultural  occu- 
pation, being  together,  they  could  the  more  readily  resist  any  invasion. 
Such  was  the  theory  which  generated  the  institution  of  "common  fields," 
which  gave  a  certain  degree  of  safety  to  the  inhabitants,  and  a  community 
of  interest  which  brought  them  into  daily  intercourse,  and  served  to  cul- 
tivate and  strengthen  the  feelings  of  mutual  attachment.  If  one  of  their 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  255 

number  was  taken  sick,  his  neighbors  would  cultivate  his  little  lot,  nor 
register  the  act  in  their  memories  as  one  of  untold  self-forgetfulness. 
Those  were  the  golden  days  of  happiness,  and  there  was  something  like 
true  affection  subsisting  among  the  human  family.  It  was  looked  upon 
as  a  bounclen  duty,  and  even  a  pleasure,  to  do  an  act  of  mutual  kindness. 

The  first  common  fields  were  established  in  what  was  called  La  Grande 
Prairie,  small  at  first  in  its  dimensions,  but  increased  in  size  as  the  in- 
habitants multiplied,  until  they  extended,  during  the  Spanish  domination, 
over  many  hundreds  of  acres.  These  common  fields  were  known  by 
various  names,  such  as  La  prairie  des  Noyers,  La  prairie  de  cul  de  Sac, 
La  Petite  prairie,  La  prairie  Catalan,  and  La  Grande  Prairie*  In  1775 
all  of  these  prairies  were  fenced  in  as  common  fields,  and  extended  as  far 
as  the  common  fields  of  Carondelet,  when  that  village  became  founded. 

In  1769  an  event  occurred  which  created  in  the  village  a  sensation  of 
pleasure  and  curiosity.  It  was  the  arrival  of  Pontiac,  the  great  Ottawa 
chieftain,  to  see  his  former  friend  and  acquaintance,  St.  Ange  de  Belle- 
rive.  The  fame  of  Pontiac  was  as  familiar  at  that  time  as  "household 
words,"  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Atlantic.  It  was  he  who  caused  so 
many  different  tribes  of  Indians  dwelling  hundreds  of  miles  asunder,  oc- 
cupying a  territory  extending  from  the  Mississippi  to  to  the  Alleghany, 
and  from  the  lakes  to  the  Ohio,  to  unite  in  a  great  confederacy  against 
the  English,  and  resist  their  power ;  it  was  he  who  matured  the  plan  and 
appointed  the  time  for  the  different  attacks  to  be  made  upon  the  forts  and 
settlements,  and  through  his  agency  more  than  two  thousand  of  the  Eng- 
lish had  been  "  sent  to  their  final  account "  by  the  rifle  or  tomahawk  of 
the  savage.  He  had  won  the  friendship  and  esteem  of  the  chivalrous 
Montcalm ;  had  played  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  ambuscade  where  Brad- 
dock  fell ;  had  planned  the  massacre  at  Michilmackinac ;  and  had  it  not 
been  for  the  interposition  of  an  accident,  would  have  massacred  the  whole 
of  the  English  garrison  at  Detroitf  From  these  incidents,  a  halo  of  ro- 
mance encircled  his  name,  and  when  it  became  known  to  the  inhabitants  of 
St.  Louis  that  Pontiac  had  arrived,  there  was  an  unusual  excitement  in  the 
village,  and  all  were  on  tip-toe  of  desire  to  get  a  sight  of  the  great  chieftain. 

St.  Ange  de  Bellerive,  at  that  time,  resided  in  the  house  of  Madame 
Chouteau,  which  was  then  upon  the  square  opposite  the  St.  Louis  Repub- 
lican office,  between  Main  and  Second,  and  Market  and  Chesnut,  or  else 
he  resided  in  the  house  of  Laclede  Liguest,  situated  in  the  adjoining 
square  where  Barnum's  St.  Louis  hotel  stands.  J  Wherever  he  resided, 
he  gave  a  most  cordial  reception  to  Pontiac,  who  became  his  guest  for 

%  *  La  Prairie  des  Noyers  and  La  Prairie  Catalan  took  their  names  from  individuals. 
La  Prairie  de  Cul  de  Sac  was  thus  called  because  the  centre  of  the  prairie  was  hol- 
lowed out  in  a  way  resembling  the  bottom  of  a  bag. 

\  See  History  of  the  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  by  Francis  Parkman,  jr.,  where  the 
whole  plot  to  destroy  the  garrison  is  detailed.  See  also  Carver. 

\  We  are  inclined  to  think  that  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive  resided  in  the  house  of  Mad- 
ame Chouteau,  for  when  his  death  took  place  in  1774,  he  was  residing  with  her. 
There  is  another  circumstance  which  strongly  supports  this  conjecture.  Laclede  Li- 
guest  was  unmarried,  and  was  a  great  deal  absent  from  St  Louis,  trading  to  New 
Orleans,  and  it  is  not  probable  that  the  commandant-general  would  reside  from  choice 
in  a  house  where  there  was  no  one  to  see  to  his  domestic  comforts.  As  he  was  board- 
ing with  Madame  Chouteau  at  the  time  of  his  death,  as  recorded  in  the  archives,  it  is 
almost  certain  that  he  resided  with  her  when  Pontiac  visited  St.  Louis. 


256  THE    GREAT   WEST 


some  days,%nd  was  caressed  and  feted  by  the  principal  inhabitants  of  the 
village. 

Since  his  arnbitiotls  plans  had  all  miscarried,  he  had  sought  as  a  relief 
the  Lethean  bowl  of  intoxication,  that  he  might  forget  the  past,  where 
his  once  bright  hopes  were  buried,  and  that  his  sensibilities  might  be  un- 
affected by  the  contemplation  of  the  future.  He  was  still  Pontiac,  but 
"  how  fallen  !"  and  the  people  of  St.  Louis  would  look  in  his  bloated 
countenance  in  vain  for  that  sublimity  of  expression  which  they  thought 
had  radiated  the  countenance  of  one  whose  life  had  given  such  evidence 
of  intellect  and  chivalrous  devotion  to  his  country  and  people.  However 
morally  he  may  have  fallen,  yet  his  fame  lived,  and  he  was  the  lion  of  the 
little  village,  and  attracted  all  eyes  toward  him. 

A  few  days  after  his  arrival  he  expressed  a  wish  to  go  to  Cahokia, 
across  the  river,  where  many  of  the  old  French  settlers  had  invited  him, 
and  contemplated  a  general  merry-making.  St.  Ange  do  Bcllerivc,  and 
his  other  friends  of  St.  Louis,  strongly  attempted  to  dissuade  him  from 
crossing  the  river,  as  the  English  laws  were  in  force  in  that  country,  and 
an  English  trader  resided  there,  who  had  much  wealth  and  influence,  who 
had  sworn  vengeance  against  the  life  of  the  chieftain  for  some  real  or 
imaginary  wrong.  All  the  dissuasions  of  his  friends  were  fruitless,  and 
Pontiac,  dressed  in  a  complete  uniform  which  he  had  received  from  the 
unfortunate  Montcalm,  and  attended  by  a  few  followers,  went  across  to 
Cahokia.  His  friends  never  saw  him  again  alive,  for  when  he  had  drunk 
deep,  and  his  faculties  were  rendered  obtuse  and  inactive,  as  he  was  wan- 
dering in  the  woods  about  the  village,  he  was  tomahawked  by  a  Kaskas- 
kia  Indian,  who  had  been  bribed  by  the  English  trader,  whose  name  was 
Williamson,  to  kill  the  great  chieftain,  and  the  price  of  the  assassination 
was  a  barrel  of  whiskey. 

When  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive  heard  that  Pontiac  was  slain,  he  ordered 
his  body  to  be  brought  to  St.  Louis,  and,  amid  the  general  lamentation 
of  the  inhabitants,  he  had  it  buried  near  the  only  fortification  of  the  city 
with  all  the  honors  of  war.*  It  will  not  be  too  much  digression  from  our 
main  history  to  state  here  that  the  fate  of  Pontiac  was  well  avenged.  The 
great  chieftain  had  been  regarded  by  the  different  Indian  tribes  with  a 
pride  and  affection  which  bordered  on  divinity.  When  the  circumstances 
of  his  death  became  known  among  them,  there  was  an  universal  howl  of 
vengeance.  The  warriors  were  quickly  assembled,  and  with  the  war- 
whoop  thrilling  upon  their  lips,  and  all  of  the  savage  instincts  in  full 
sweep  of  vengeance,  they  assailed  the  different  tribes  of  the  Illinois  Indians, 
and,  in  an  universal  carnage,  almost  destroyed  their  existence.f  The 
Ottawa  chieftain  died  not  unavenged ;  but  the  white  men,  intent  upon 
lucre  and  other  selfish  considerations,  reared  no  slab  with  its  epitaph  to 
mark  the  spot  where  he  was  buried  and  to  perpetuate  his  memory. 
Houses  are  built  over  his  grave,  and  there  are  but  few  who  know  that  his 
remains  have  their  resting  place  in  St.  Louis. 

*  There  was  only  one  fortificiition  then,  which  had  just  been  completed,  standing  on 
Fourth  near  "Walnut  street.     It  was  built  in_the  shape  of  a  tower,  and  from  it  "Walnut 
street  took  its  name  at  that  time  as  Rue  de  la  Tour.    The  tower  was  well  built,  and  many  • 
of  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  can  still  remember  when  it  was  used  as  a  prison. 

1  The  Illinois  Indians  were  composed  of  three  tribes — the  Kaskaskias,  the  Feorias, 
and  the  Cahokias. 


AND   HEK   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  257 

During  the  same  year  that  was  fraught  with  the  fate  of  Pontiac,  news 
came  from  New  Orleans  which  sent  a  thrill  of  terror  into  the  hearts  of 
the  inhabitants,  and  made  them  tremble  in  the  anticipation  of  the  future. 
The  Spanish  government  had  again  sent  a  representative  to  New  Orleans 
to  take  possession  of  a  country  which  it  thought — and  that  too  with  jus- 
tice— it  had  been  too  long  defrauded  from  occupying.  It  had  awaited  in 
vain  tor  the  people  to  become  reconciled  to  the  treaty  made  by  their  sov- 
ereign, and  then  determined  to  effect  by  force  that  which  could  not  be 
gotten  by  conciliation. 

Don  Alexander  O'Reilly  was  appointed  commandant-general  of  Loui- 
siana, and  was  sent  with  three  thousand  soldiers  to  enforce  his  authority. 
When  these  facts  became  known  to  the  inhabitants  of  New  Orleans, 
there  were  the  same  manifestations  of  resistance  as  when  Ulloa  attempted 
to  take  possession.  In  the  case  of  O'Reilly,  they  assembled  in  vast  num- 
bers, determined  upon  disputing  his  landing,  and  were  only  kept  from 
carrying  their  designs  into  execution  by  the  persuasions  of  the  magistrates 
and  the  chief  inhabitants,  who  saw  that  all  attempts  to  resist  such  a  force 
would  be  useless.  However,  the  Spanish  commandant-general  landed 
amid  threats  and  execrations. 

O'Reilly  well  knew  that  all  the  elements  were  ripe  for  a  spirit  of  revolt, 
and  he  resorted  to  one  of  those  acts  of  cruel  policy  which  had  frequently 
been  resorted  to  before  to  quell  incipient  rebellion,  by  an  execution  of 
some  of  the  principal  men,  which  would  strike  terror  in  the  hearts  of  the 
others  and  awe  them  into  subjection.  Twelve  of  the  leading  citizens  of 
New  Orleans  were  arrested,  of  whom  five  were  shot,  six  condemned 
to  linger  out  a  suffering  existence  in  the  loathsome  dungeons  of  Cuba, 
and  one  died  by  violence.  This  summary  proceeding  had  its  effect  and 
chilled  the  inhabitants  into  submission. 

All  of  the  Americans  have  been  universal  in  their  condemnation  of 
O'Reilly,  declaring  that  his  act  was  an  outrage  upon  humanity,  unjustifi- 
able and  uncalled  for  by  the  occasion,  and  naturally  proceeding  from  the 
bloody  instincts  always  so  predominant  in  a  tyrant  nature.  Nearly  a 
century  has  now  passed  since  that  unhappy  event,  and  we  can  look  upon 
it  in  a  manner  different  to  what  they  did  fifty  years  ago,  when  the  cir- 
cumstance was  comparatively  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  when  the 
relatives  of  the  victims  were  still  murmuring  against  the  decree,  and  keep- 
ing in  agitation  the  public  feeling  by  continual  complaints.  Without  jus- 
tifying the  act  of  O'Reilly,  we  only  say,  that  for  far  less  opposition  to 
power,  the  sword  has  been  used  more  freely,  and  history  has  recorded 
many  bloodier  pages.  He  saw  all  the  incipient  movements  of  open  rebel- 
lion around  him,  and  may  have  honestly  thought  that  the  act  was  required 
by  administrative  policy,  as  an  evidence  that  he  possessed  the  iron  band 
of  power,  and  as  a  preventive  of  open  rebellion. 

The  Spanish  power  was  completely  established  by  O'Reilly  in  New 
Orleans,  and  after  things  had  somewhat  settled  into  a  system,  Piernas  was 
dispatched  to  St.  Louis  as  lieutenant  governor  of  Upper  Louisiana.  He 
arrived  in  St.  Louis  in  the  early  part  of  1770,  and  quickly  received  pos- 
session of  the  country  from  M.  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive,  the  commandant  at 
the  post.* 

*  It  is  recorded  in  a  statement  in  Hunt's  Minutes,  made  by  Colonel  Auguste 
Chomeau,  that  Piernas  arrived  in  St.  Louis  on  the  29th  of  November,  1770.  This  ia 


258  THE   GREAT   WEST 


The  people  of  St.  Louis,  seeing  that  New  Orleans  had  submitted  to  the 
Spanish  power,  had  made  up  their  minds,  previous  to  the  arrival  of  Piernas, 
quietly  to  surrender  to  that  government,  to  which  their  monarch  had 
transferred  them  in  the  secret  treaty  of  1762.  There  was  a  universal 
regret,  and  tears  streamed  from  the  eyes  of  many  when  they  saw  the 
French  flag,  which  had  long  waved  over  the  town,  removed  from  its  posi- 
tion, and  its  place  supplied  by  a  foreign  banner.  It  was  a  day  of  regret 
and  gloom,  and  the  future  was  threatening  and  lowering ;  happily  the 
signs  proved  fallacious,  for  the  new  laws  to  which  they  were  subjected 
proved  to  be  fraught  with  more  content  and  happiness  to  the  people,  than 
the  code  of  their  own  country  which  they  abandoned  with  so  much  re- 
luctance. 

It  was  in  this  year,  1770,  in  which  ceased  the  French  domination, 
when  there  was  a  great  festival  among  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis,  on 
the  occasion  of  the  consecration  of  their  little  log  church,  which  was 
built  according  to  the  custom  of  the  French,  the  logs  being  placed  in  a 
vertical  position,  and  the  interstices  filled  with  mortar.  It  was  built  on 
the  same  block  where  the  cathedral  now  stands,  though  located  nearly  at 
the  corner  of  Second  and  Marktet.  It  was  an  occasion  of  much  solemnity ; 
the  inhabitants  turned  out  en  masse,  and  filled  to  overflowing  the  little 
building.  It  was  the  24th  of  June,  1770,  that  this  interesting  event  took 
place,  which  had  been  looked  forward  to  with  hope  and  anxiety  by  the 
people,  who,  though  jovial,  unlettered,  and  accustomed  to  the  roughness 

certainly  an  error,  as  the  first  baptism  that  was  mado  in  the  church  was  in  June,  1170, 
and  the  wife  of  Piernas  was  present  on  the  occasion.  The  Spanish  governor  re 
maiued  in  St.  Louis  several  months  before  he  assumed  the  reins  of  government,  and 
resided  in  the  house  of  Laclede  Liguest. 

There  is  another  document  now  in  the  United  States  Recorder's  office,  which  will  set 
the  matter  at  rest  as  regards  dates.  We  give  the  translation : 

"To  His  Excellency  Don  Pedro  Piernas,  Captain  of  the  Infantry,  and  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  the  establishment  of  Illinois  and  its  dependencies,  belonging  to  his  Catholic 
Majesty. 

"The  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  humbly  pray  you,  that  since  the  establishment  of  this 
post,  there  has  been  no  survey  in  fact,  and  that  all  the  lands  which  have  been  culti- 
vated, and  which  have  been  conceded  to  them,  are  for  the  most  part  in  a  state  of  con- 
fusion ;  that  they  do  not  know  the  lines,  and  it  is  necessary  that  the  lands  should  be 
measured  and  bounded  by  a  surveyor,  so  that  all  can  effectually  work  what  belongs  to 
them. 

"  In  consideration  of  these  facts,  may  it  please  your  Excellency,  to  appoint  some  one 
to  make  a  survey  as  soon  as  convenient,  so  as  to  remove  all  the  difficulties  which  have 
been  rife  many  years  among  neighbors. 

"  Your  petitioners  continually  pray  for  your  prosperity. 

"ST.  Louis,  October  7th,  1770. 
"  LACLEDE  LIGUEST.  LABUXIERE.  Mark  M  of  BISSOINET. 

Mark  M  of  Mr.  RONDEAU.          SARPY.  TALLONT. 

MARTIGNY.  AMABLE  GUION.  BECQUET. 

COTTE,NICOLLA  BARSALOUS.       Mark  of  M  DESCHAMP.       Mark  X  of  Mr.  RIDDE. 

LAMBERT.  HUBERT.  HERVIEUX." 

The  reply  of  Piernas  is  as  follows: — 

"  In  view  of  this  request,  and  knowing  the  worth  and  capacity  of  Mr.  Duralde :  we 
have  named  and  officially  appoint  him  surveyor  of  this  colony  of  Illinois,  and  the 
dependencies  of  his  Catholic  Majesty,  for  to  survey,  measure,  and  bound  the  lands  of 
individuals  who  require  him,  and  the  fees,  according  to  the  established  tax,  will  be 
paid  him  by  those  individuals  by  whom  he  may  be  employed. 

"Si.  Louis,  October  9th,  1770.  "  PIERNAS.'' 


AND    HER   COMMERCIAL,   METROPOLIS.  259 

of  pioneer  life,  yet  were  strict  in  the  observance  of  the  forms  of  religion, 
which,  by  the  devoted  and  self-sacrificing  French  missionaries,  had  not 
only  been  kept  in  view  before  the  inhabitants  of  every  hamlet,  but  had 
been  practised  far  in  the  wilderness,  to  turn  the  savages  from  their  erratic 
faith,  and  induce  them  to  worship  in  a  Christian  manner  the  only  true 
God  of  the  universe. 

At  this  period  Father  Gibault  owned  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  as  his 
little  flock,  and  when  he  saw  them  gathered  in  the  fold  of  the  church, 
where  he  could  more  effectually  teach  and  guard  them  in  his  spiritual 
capacity,  he  must  have  tested  that  ambrosial  happiness  which  can  only  be 
partaken  of  by  the  pure  and  holy.  He  said  mass  and  administered  the 
Eucharist,  and  chanted  the  Te  Deum  and  the  De  Profundis  with  a  heart 
overflowing  with  gratitude.  At  the  laying  out  of  the  village,  Liguest  re- 
served the  block  of  ground  for  a  church,  and  when  the  benediction  had 
been  pronounced,  and  the  people  dismissed  to  their  homes,  there  was  a 
universal  satisfaction  that  the  church  had  at  length  been  completed. 


260  THE    GREAT   WEST 

SPANISH    DOMINATION. 
CHAPTER    II. 

Pedro  Piernas. — His  policy. — His  character. — His  popularity. — Death  of  St.  Ange  de 
Bellerive. — His  character. — His  will.— Piernas  is  threatened  with  assassination  by 
an  Osage  chief. — Cruzat  becomes  Lieutenant-Governor. — The  American  Revolution. 
— The  hatred  of  the  Spaniards  to  the  English  — Smuggled  goods. — Ferry  across  the 
Maramec  — Character  of  Cruzat. — Don  Fernando  de  Leyba. — Death  of  Pierre  Laclede 
Liguest. — His  appearance. — His  character. — Fear  of  the  Indians. — Attack  on  St. 
Louis. — L'annie  du  Coup. — Death  of  Don  Fernando  de  Leyba. — Succeeded  by  Car- 
tabona. — Arrival  of  Cruzat. — Flood  of  the  Mississippi. — The  Pirates  of  Grand  Tower. 
— Pirates  of  Cottonwood  Creek. — L'annee  des  dix  batteaux. — The  danger  from 
Indians. — Pain  Court. — Administration  of  Perez — Trudeau  and  Delassus. — Large 
Grants. — Fever  of  Speculation. — Napoleon  Bonaparte. — Cession  of  the  Province  of 
Louisiana  to  France. — France  sells  it  to  the  United  States. — End  of  Spanish  Domi- 
nation. 

WHEN  Don  Pedro  Piernas  entered  upon  his  duties  as  lieutenant-gover- 
nor of  Upper  Louisiana,  he  found  that  the  inhabitants  were  strongly 
attached  to  the  laws  which  formerly  had  their  sway,  and  though  they 
had  submitted  to  his  authority,  it  was  evidently  with  reluctance ;  and 
they  entertained  a  hostility  to  the  power  which  they  had  not  the  strength 
to  resist.  He  immediately  set  himself  to  work  to  conciliate  the  people, 
and  remove  their  prejudices.  He  made  but  little  change  in  the  existing 
government,  the  French  and  Spanish  colonial  laws  strongly  assimilating; 
and  when  any  new  regulation  was  introduced,  it  was  so  fraught  with 
benefit  to  the  colony,  that  the  inhabitants,  after  a  few  months,  ceased  to 
regret  the  change  of  government,  and  were  wholly  disarmed  of  their  pre- 
judices. 

Piernas  had  all  the  elements  of  character  which  suited  the  infant  colony. 
What  laws  he  established,  he  faithfully  observed  himself,  and  strictly  re- 
quired their  observance ;  yet  he  was  mild  in  his  nature,  and  showed  in  v 
every  act  that  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  the  people  were  his  guiding 
motives.  He  appointed  a  surveyor,  so  that  the  lines  of  the  different 
grants  could  be  properly  determined,  and  whose  seal  would  be  conclusive 
evidence  of  their  boundaries.  This  surveyor,  called  Martin  Duralde,  was 
a  Frenchman,  and  the  appointment  was  unexpected  and  agreeable  to  the 
people.  He  also  made  Louis  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive,  the  former  com- 
mander of  the  fort,  a  captain  of  infantry,  in  the  service  of  his  Catholic 
Majesty,  and  always  preserved  with  him  the  most  friendly  relations.*  He 
also,  in  a  public  manner,  confirmed  all  of  the  grants  made  by  him,  which 
rested  by  a  precarious  tenure,  having  been  made  without  any  legal  au- 
thority .f  These  acts  of  power,  so  shorn  of  every  thing  like  oppression, 

*  See  the  will  of  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive,  filed  in  the  Spanish  Archives  at  St.  Louis, 
and  recorded,  where  it  is  stated  that  he  is  a  Spanish  officer,  in  the  service  of  his  Cath- 
olic Majesty. 

f  Livre  Terrein,  Book  Second.  This  confirmation  was  witnessed  by  Laclede  Liguest, 
Conde,  and  others  of  the  primitive  inhabitants. 


AND    HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  261 

even  made  him  a  favorite  of  the  people,  and  effectually  won  their  confi- 
dence. He  also  placed  Frenchmen  to  fill  many  subordinate  offices,  and 
soon  his  wise  diplomatic  policy  put  to  flight  every  vestige  of  dissatisfaction. 

It  was  in  1774,  but  a  little  more  than  three  years  after  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Spanish  domination,  that  the  house  of  Madame  Chouteau, 
then  situated  on  the  block  between  Chesnut  and  Market  and  Main  and 
Second  streets,  was  visited  with  anxiety  by  the  chief  inhabitants  of  the 
village.  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive,  the  former  commandant,  was  lying  sick 
upon  his  couch,  and  it  was  evident  that  his  life  was  fast  waning  to  its 
close.  He  had  already  passed  the  threescore  and  ten  years  allotted  to 
man,  and  had  drawn  severely  upon  his  constitution  by  the  deprivation  and 
suffering  incident  to  a  soldier's  life  in  a  new  country.  It  was  the  twenty- 
sixth  of  September,  1774,  that  the  dying  soldier,  surrounded  by  his  most 
intimate  friends,  and  in  presence  of  the  proper  officers,  made  his  last  will 
and  testament.  He  showed  on  his  death-bed  the  characteristics  of  the 
brave  soldier,  joined  with  those  of  the  hopeful  Christian.  Without  being 
at  all  disturbed  by  his  approaching  dissolution,  he  made  provision  for  the 
disposal  of  his  worldly  effects,  and  submitted  his  last  moments  to  the 
guidance  and  teaching  of  his  father  confessor. 

Louis  St.  Ange  do  Bellerive,  beside  possessing  in  an  eminent  degree  all 
of  the  qualities  requisite  for  a  distinguished  officer,  was  one  of  the  most 
honorable  of  men.  His  will  furnishes  an  index  to  his  character.  After 
declaring  himself  a  good  Catholic,  and  commending  his  soul  "to  God,  the 
blessed  Virgin,  and  to  the  saints  of  the  Celestial  Court,"  he  appoints  his 
friend  Pierre  Laclede  Liguest,  the  founder  of  St.  Louis,  his  executor.  He 
then  directs  that  the  amount  of  his  board  should  be  paid  to  Madame 
Chouteau ;  that  he  owed  for  twenty-five  cords  of  wood ;  that  he  was  in 
debt  to  his  tailor  for  divers  articles  of  clothing ;  and  with  some  other 
amounts  carefully  mentioned,  all  of  which  debts  he  desired  should  be  paid 
by  his  executor.  Then,  in  accordance  with  his  creed,  he  ordered  masses 
to  be  said  for  the  repose  of  his  soul,  and  left  five  hundred  livres  to  the 
church.  He  died  universally  lamented,  at  an  advanced  £ge,  and  was 
buried  in  the  Catholic  burying-ground,  with  all  "the  pomp  and  circum- 
stance" suitable  to  a  Spanish  officer  of  high  rank,  and  consistent  with 
1  his  former  high  position.  5 

Piernas  did  not  long  remain  the  superior  officer  in  Upper  Louisiana, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Francisco  Cruzat,  in  1775.*  On  the  accession  of 
Cruzat  to  power,  he  returned  to  New  Orleans,  beloved  and  regretted  by 
the  colony.  He  had  married  a  French  lady,  by  the  name  of  Portneuf, 
which  contributed  much  to  his  popularity.  He  was  near  being  assas- 
sinated at  one  time,  by  an  Indian  chief  of  the  Osage  tribe,  who  had  taken 
a  strong  dislike  to  him  because  he  was  not  French,  and,  as  is  the  custom 
of  the  Spaniards,  treated  the  Indians  with  a  hauteur  and  suspicion  totally 
at  variance  with  the  familiarity  of  the  Frenchmen.  This  treatment  irri- 
tated the  savage,  and  he  resolved  on  vengeance.  He  came  to  St.  Louis 
with  some  followers,  decked  in  the  wild  attire  of  the  savage  warrior,  but 
getting  into  a  debauch  the  first  night  of  his  arrival,  he  publicly  avowed 
his  intention  of  putting  his  purpose  in  execution  on  the  first  opportunity. 

*  When  Galvez  left  New  Orleans  on  his  expedition  against  Florida,  he  left  Piernas 
with  the  powers  of  governor-general  of  Louisiana. — GAYARE'S  LOUISIANA. 


262  THE   GREAT  WEST 


A  Shawnee  chief  had  then  come  to  St.  Louis,  on  a  treaty  for  some  lands 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Ste.Genevieve,  to  which  they  had  been  invited  by 
Piernas,  so  that  they  might  interpose  a  barrier  between  St.  Louis  and  the 
fierce  western  tribes,  who  had  evinced  a  hostile  disposition.  The  Shaw- 
nee  chief,  to  show  his  friendship  for  Piernas,  and  having  a  far  superior 
number  of  followers  than  the  Osage,  and  also  animated  by  a  spirit  of  feu- 
dal enmity,  drew  the  Osage  into  a  quarrel  and  stabbed  him  to  the  heart. 
The  Osage  was  buried  on  the  high  mound  from  which  the  present  Mound 
street  takes  its  name.  It  may  be  mentioned  here,  that  both  the  Shaw- 
nees  and  Delawares  had  been  invited  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  a  large 
grant  of  land  offered  them  for  acceptance.  When  that  grant  took  effect, 
we  will  again  allude  to  the  subject. 

When  Cruzat  came  into  power,  all  of  the  English  possessions  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Mississippi  were  in  a  state  of  strong  excitement.  From 
>  the  oppression  of  the  mother  country,  the  English  colonies  <had  deter- 
mined to  free  themselves;  and  having  tried  by  a  conciliating  spirit,  and 
finally  by  petition,  to  obtain  those  hereditary  rights  which  had  been  re- 
fused them,  they  had  at  length  declared  their  independence,  and  from 
Canada  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Atlantic,  the 
people  were  preparing  for  the  contest,  and  all  gave  evidence  of  the 
"  dreadful  note  of  preparation." 

Since  the  treaty  of  1763,  when  Spain  had  ceded  to  England  all  of  the 
Floridas,  the  former  power  had  remained  dissatisfied.  She  had  conceived 
a  distrust  and  dislike  for  the  English,  which  evinced  themselves  even  in 
her  distant  possessions.  In  St.  Louis,  this  distrust  and  dislike  were  also 
manifested,  and  a  heavy  embargo  was  laid  upon  English  goods,  which 
amounted  almost  to  a  prohibition,  and  created  a  regular  system  of  smug- 
gling. Some  of  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  dealt  largely  in  contraband 
goods,  and  in  that  nefarious  practice  added  much  to  their  commercial 
profits.  These  goods  were  chiefly  brought  from  Cahokia. 

Cruzat  was  a  mild  and  amiable  governor,  who,  though  giving  no  evi- 
dence of  consummate  ability  or  executive  talent,  nevertheless  did  nothing 
that  was  disadvantageous  to  the  colony,  and  was  content  to  let  things  flow 
in  the  healthful  channels  in  which  they  had  been  left  by  his  predecessor. 
He  and  his  family  were  highly  popular  with  the  inhabitants,  from  posses-  • 
sing,  in  a  great  degree,  a  social  and  hospitable  disposition.  It  was  during 
his  administration  that  a  ferry  was  established  on  the  Maramec,  by  a  man 
by  the  name  of  John  Baptiste  Gamache.*  He  had  a  family,  and  during 
his  first  term  as  commandant,  lost  a  daughter  of  tender  age,  who  was  buried 
in  the  cemetery  of  the  church.  He  lived  in  the  same  residence  as  did 
Piernas,  during  the  close  of  his  administration,  which  was  situated  on  the 
block  corner  of  Main  and  Walnut  streets ;  the  house  was  one  of  the  first 
built  in  St.  Louis,  and  which  Liguest  rented  to  the  Spanish  governors. 

Francisco  Cruzat  was  succeeded  in  office  by  Don  Fernando  de  Leyba, 
in  1778,  a  drunken,  avaricious  and  feeble-minded  man,  without  possessing 
a  single  quality  that  could  recommend  him  to  the  important  office  he  held. 

It  was  in  the  early  part  of  his  administration  that  news  was  brought 
to  St.  Louis,  that  Pierre  Laclede  Liguest,  the  founder  of  the  growing 
town,  had  died,  while  on  a  visit  to  New  Orleans,  from  some  of  the  mal- 

*  Private  Land  Claims  of  Missouri,  page  371. 


AND    HER    COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  263 

adies  incident  to  a  southern  climate.  He  was  universally  regretted,  and 
his  large  property  was  administered  upon  by  Augustus  Chouteau.  An- 
toine  Maxent,  his  partner,  holding  a  high  appointment  in  New  Orleans, 
under  the  king  of  Spain,  by  showing  claims  upon  Liguest  lor  a  large  amount, 
got  possession  of  his  large  landed  and  personal  property,  a  large  portion  of 
which  was  sold  for  an  insignificant  sum  at  the  church  door,  according  to  the 
usages  of  the  times.*  The  whole  square  where  Barnum's  St.  Louis  Hotel 
now  stands  was  a  small  portion  of  his  large  property,  and  was  the  heart 
of  the  little  town.  It  was  sold  for  three  thousand  dollars,  Auguste  Chou- 
teau being  the  purchaser ;  and  some  years  afterward  was  built  upon  it  the 
celebrated  Chouteau  mansion,  which  at  one  time  was  the  palace  of  the 
town.  The  sale  took  place  in  1779. 

Pierre  Laclede  Liguest  was  from  the  country  Bion,  in  France,  near  the 
base  of  the  Pyrenees,  the  dividing  line  between  France  and  Spain.  He 
was  of  a  brave  and  adventurous  disposition,  and  started  from  France  with 
the  avowed  purpose  of  establishing  a  colony  in  the  French  possessions  in 
America,  bringing  with  him  many  followers.  He  was  little  above  the 
medium  size,  of  very  dark  complexion,  with  a  large  nose,  expansive  brow, 
and  piercing  and  expressive  eyes.f  Though  strictly  attentive  to  his  busi- 
ness pursuits,  he  was  by  no  means  of  a  sordid  disposition,  and  we  find 
recorded  in  the  Archives  a  deed,  bearing  date  May  12,  1768,  in  which 
he  deeds  to  Madame  Chouteau,  a  large  piece  of  property,  on  the  south- 
west corner  of  Chesnut  and  Main  streets,  where  Lucas's  banking-house 
was  situated.  The  deed  avows  that  the  gift  was  made  in  consideration  of 
the  services  rendered  by  Auguste  Chouteau,  who  always  acted  as  his 
confidential  agent.  A  usufructuary  title  was  only  given  to  Madame  Chou- 
teau, and  after  her  death,  it  was  to  be  divided  among  her  five  children. 
The  instrument  is  carefully  worded,  and  the  intention  of  the  testator  is 
clearly  expressed. 

Pierre  Laclede  Liguest  died,  aged  fifty-four,  on  the  Mississippi  River, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas  River,  June  20th,  1778,  and  was  hastily 
buried  in  the  wild  solitude  of  those  regions,  and  there  was  no  stone  or 
tomb  to  mark  the  spot.  The  place  cannot  now  be  recognized.  J 

Directly  war  was  declared  between  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies,  the 
Indians  were  used  as  agents  of  destruction  by  the  English,  and  through- 
out the  whole  of  the  western  country,  the  colonies  suffered  all  the  horrors 
of  savage  warfare.  From  the  circumstance  of  Spain  sympathizing  with 
the  colonies,  and  seizing  the  time  as  auspicious  for  regaining  the  posses- 
sion of  Florida,  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  justly  dreaded  some  attack 
from  the  barbarous  tribes  of  savages  by  whom  they  were  surrounded  ;  for 

*  In  the  Archives  he  signs  himself  "  Antonio  Gilberto  de  Maxent,  colonel  of  the  royal 
armies,  and  lieutenant-governor  in  respect  to  the  Indians  of  this  province."  This  docu- 
ment was  signed  at  New  Orleans,  and  was  relative  to  the  disposal  of  some  property 
which  was  owned  by  Liguest,  then  deceased. 

Besides  his  large  landed  estate,  there  were  due  to  Liguest  notes  payable  in  peltry  to 
nearly  forty  thousand  dollars.  We  arrive  at  this  fact  by  seeing  a  discharge  given 
by  Maxent  to  Auguste  Chouteau,  who  acted  as  his  attorney  in  Upper  Louisiana. 
There  was  evidently  existing,  at  one  time,  an  inventory  of  the  personal  property  of  the 
deceased,  but  it  was  never  recorded  in  the  Archives  and  the  original  paper  has  been 
abstracted  from  the  office. 

f  This  description  was  furnished  us  by  Madam  Elizabeth  Ortes,  the  only  inhabitant 
now  living  in  Missouri  who  recollects  having  seen  the  founder  of  St.  Louis. 

J  He  was  buried  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Arkansas  River. 


THE    GREAT   "WEST 


the  hunters  and  traders,  whose  pursuits  carried  them  to  the  Upper  Mis- 
sissippi, could  see  that  some  mischief  was  brewing  in  the  mind  of  the 
savages  against  the  people  of  St.  Louis. 

The  inhabitants  became  alarmed,  and  as  the  town  was  almost  defence- 
less, an  effort  was  made  to  build  a  wall,  formed  of  brush  and  clay,  some 
five  feet  in  height,  encircling  the  town,  and  affording  egress  and  ingress 
to  the  inhabitants  by  three  gates  stationed  on  the  three  principal  thor- 
oughfares. There  was  but  one  small  fort,  called  La  Tour,  which  after- 
terward  became  the  prison,  and  was  situated  on  Fourth  Street,  near  Walnut. 

The  inhabitants  having  partially  prepared  themselves  for  an  attack, 
and  being  kept  on  the  qui  vive  for  some  months,  and  finding  that  no. 
Indians  had  molested  (hem,  began  to  grow  careless  of  all  rumors,  which 
had  so  long  kept  them  in  a  state  of  alarm,  and  which  proved  to  be 
nothing  more  than  apparitions  produced  by  the  disturbing  influence  of 
terror.  The  fear  of  the  Indians  had  almost  prevented  the  cultivation  of 
the  crops  of  the  preceding  year,  and  the  town  was  threatened  almost 
•with  famine.  The  people  then  finding  no  truth  in  the  reports  which 
were  continually  in  agitation  among  them,  again  went  forth  to  their  com- 
mon fields,  as  was  their  custom,  and  planted  largely  in  the  spring  of  1780, 
to  supply  the  former  deficiency. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  British  commandant  at  Fort  Michilimackinac 
used  every  effort  to  rouse  into  action  the  savage  instincts  of  the  Indian 
tribes  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  and  at  length  there  were  more  than  a  thou- 
sand warriors  ready  for  the  war-path.  They  were  placed  under  the  guidance 
of  white  men,  who  were  principally  French  Canadians  in  the  employment 
of  the  British,  who,  from  long  residence  among  the  savages,  knew  how 
to  operate  upon  their  excitable  temperaments.  The  names  of  the  three 
principal  renegade  white  men  were  Langdon,  Calve,  and  Ducharme.* 

The  26th  of  May  was  appointed  for  the  attack,  and  on  the  25th  the 
savages  had  assembled  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Mississippi,  and,  carefully 
concealing  themselves  during  the  clay,  awaiting  the  morrow,  when  they 
fondly  hoped  to  destroy  and  pillage  the  town.  Quenelle,  one  of  the  un- 
principled French  traders  who  were  in  league  with  the  Indians,  feeling 
certain  of  the  destruction  of  the  village,  and  wishing  to  save  the  life  of 
his  brother,  who  resided  in  it,  on  the  evening  of  the  25th  of  May  crossed 
tlve  Mississippi,  and  endeavored  to  persuade  his  brother  to  accompany 
him  to  the  east  side  of  the  river,  giving  him  to  understand  that  the 
people  of  the  town  would  be  massacred  the  following  day.  This  the 
brother  refused  to  do,  and  communicated  the  purport  of  the  interview  to 
the  governor  and  the  inhabitants ;  but  no  one  believed  the  truth  of  his 
statement,  and  no  alarm  was  created. 

The  25th  of  May,  1780,  was  the  feast  of  Corpus  Christi,  a  day  con- 
secrated by  the  Catholics  with  all  the  religious  observances  of  their 
church.  The  little  log  church  was  decorated  for  the  occasion,  and  on 
the  morning  of  that  day  it  was  crowded  by  the  happy  villagers,  in  their 
best  attire,  to  hear  Father  Bernard,  the  officiating  priest.  In  the  after- 
noon, they  went  in  crowds  to  the  prairie  to  gather  strawberries,  which 
had  just  commenced  to  ripen,  and  after  the  day  had  closed  in  that  social 
enjoyment  to  which  they  were  so  much  predisposed,  they  lay  down  to 
sleep,  unconscious  of  their  fate  on  the  morrow,  and  the  contiguity  of 
their  murderous  foes. 

*  A  Frenchman  by  the  name  of  Quenelle  was  also  with  the  savages. 


AND   HEK  .COMMERCIAL    METROPOLIS.  265 

On  the  26th,  \rhen  the  morning  star  was  still  bright  in  the  firmament, 
the  Indians  silently*lided  across  the  Mississippi,  and  landed  where  the 
city  of  Bremen  now  stands.  They  then  took  a  circuitous  course  back  of 
the  town,  so  as  to  surprise  the  inhabitants,  whom  they  expected  to  find 
working  their  common  fields,  and  near  where  now  are  the  Fair  Grounds,  they 
came  to  what  was  called  Cardinal's  Spring,  and  surprised  two  Frenchmen, 
one  from  whom  the  spring  took  its  name,  and  the  other  called  Baptiste 
Riviere ;  the  former  they  killed,  and  the  latter  was  taken  prisoner  to 
Chicago.*  The  savages  then  continued  their  course  back  of  the  village, 
and  came  suddenly  upon  some  of  the  inhabitants  who  were  working  their 
crops,  and  commenced  the  attack  with  horrid  yells,  which  could  be  heard 
over  the  whole  village.  Some  forty  of  the  inhabitants  were  killed  before 
they  could  reach  the  village,  and  the  cannon,  which  had  been  kept  charged, 
was  fired  upon  the  savage  warriors,  who  were  in  hot  pursuit  of  the  fugi- 
tives, by  some  of  the  inhabitants.  The  tremendous  noise  of  the  piece  of 
ordnance,  together  with  the  fact  of  the  ball  striking  near  them  and  tear- 
ing up  the  earth  in  its  course,  arrested  the  progress  of  the  savages,  and 
caused  them  again  to  scamper  back  in  their  tracks.  They  had  expected 
to  surprise  the  town  and  pillage  it  without  resistance,  and  the  unexpected 
salute  of  the  cannon  led  them  to  think  that  every  preparation  was  made 
for  their  coming;  and  in  the  quick  time  of. Indian  retreat,  they  again  got 
in  their  canoes,  crossed  the  Mississippi,  carrying  with  them  some  twelve 
or  fourteen  prisoners.6 

There  is  no  question,  but  had  the  Indians  shown  even  an  ordinary 
amount  of  courage,  that  St.  Louis  could  easily  have  been  taken.  That 
some  of  the  inhabitants  evinced  courage  it  is  true,  but  it  is  also  true  that 
there  were  but  little  more  than  a  hundred  fighting  men  in  the  whole  vil- 
lage, and  with  the  exception  of  a  few  choice  spirits,  the  villagers  were 
nearly  frightened  out  of  their  wits.  Don  Fernando  de  Leyb&,  the  gov- 
ernor, had  locked  himself  in  his  house,  and  his  lieutenant,  Silvio  Francisco 
Cartabona,  and  his  soldiers,  had,  like  frightened  sheep,  placed  themselves 
in  the  upper  part  of  the  tower.  So  greatly  frightened  were  the  villagers, 
that  it  was  many  days  before  they  dared  to  venture  .out  of  their  enclos- 
ures ;  and,  indeed,  for  some  time  they  deserted  their  cabins,  and  assembled 
in  the  houses  of  the  Spanish  commandant,  Madame  Chouteau,  and  the 
other  stone  houses  of  the  village,  as  affording  more  security  in  case  of 
another  attack. 

The  Indians,  on  this  occasion,  terribly  mutilated  the  bodies  of  their 
victims,  and  had  they  not  been  frightened  into  a  retreat,  they  would  have 
left  a  bloody  page  for  the  historian  to  record.  They  recrossed  the  river, 
and  soon  after  dispersed  and  joined  their  respective  tribes. 

Some  authors  contend  that  the  appearance  of  General  Clark  across  the 
river  caused  them  to  evacuate  the  country,  but  he  was  not  near  St.  Louis 
at  the  time,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  savages,  once  frightened  by  the 
dischaYge  of  artillery,  did  not  recover  from  their  fright.  They  had  been 
taught  to  believe  that  there  would  be  an  effectual  surprise,  and  seeing  a 
battery  opened  upon  them,  they  became  disheartened.  The  prisoners 

*  See  in  Hunt's  Minutes,  filed  in  the  United  States  Recorder's  office,  a  statement 
made  by  John  Baptiste  Riviere,  relative  to  some  property,  in  which  he  gives  an  ac- 
count ol  his  capture  by  the  Indians  when  they  attacked  St.  Louis. 


266  THE   GKEAT   WEST 


that  were  taken,  all,  in  some  years  afterwards  returned  to  their  homes 
after  the  peace  was  made  in  1783,  when  they  were  released.* 

In  Hunt's  Minutes,  kept  in  the  United  States  Recorder's  office,  there 
is  the  evidence  of  Baptiste  Riviere,  dit  Baccane,  that  he  was  taken 
prisoner  and  carried  to  Chicago,  from  which  he  subsequently  escaped. 
They  were  all  treated  cruelly  by  their  Indian  captors,  and  made  to  carry 
the  heaviest  burdens  almost  in  a  state  of  nudity,  and,  on  wincing  from  any 
signs  of  fatigue,  were  whipped  as  lazy  beasts,  and  kept  in  a  halt-famished 
state.  Only  one  of  the  white  men  who  accompanied  the  Indians  was  en- 
gaged in  the  attack ;  they  stopped  on  the  island  in  the  Mississippi,  where 
they  crossed,  awaiting  probably  until  the  slaughter  was  over,  which, 
treacherous  as  they  were,  they  did  not  wish  to  witness. 

The  register  in  the  cathedral  contains  the  following  record  :  "  In  the 

*  We  here  append  the  statements  of  several  authors,  regarding  this  attack: — 
"While  the  Spaniards  were  aiming  at  the  possession  of  West  Florida,  the  English  en- 
deavored to  divert  their  attention  to  another  quarter.  The  commandant  of  Michilimackinac 
in  1780,  assembled  about  fifteen  hundred  Indians,  and  one  hundred  and  forty  English, 
and  attempted  the  reduction  of  St.  Louis,  the  capital  of  Upper  Louisiana.  During  the" 
short  time  they  were  before  that  town,  sixty  of  the  inhabitants  were  killed,  and  thirty 
taken  prisoners.  Fortunately  for  them,  general  Clark  was  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
Mississippi  with  a  considerable  fonce.  On  his  appearance  at  St.  Louis  with  a  strong 
detachment,  the  Indians  were  amazed.  They  had  no  disposition  to  quarrel  with  any 
other  than  the  Louisianians,  and  charged  the  English  with  deception.  In  fine,  as  the 
jealousy  of  the  Indians  was  excited,  the  English  trembled  for  their  safety,  and  there- 
fore secretly  abandoned  their  auxiliaries,  and  made  the  best  of  their  way  into  Canada. 
The  Indians  then  retired  to  their  homes  in  peace.  This  expedition,  as  appears,  was 
not  sanctioned  by  the  English  court,  and  the  private  property  of  the  commandant  was 
seized  to  pay  the  expenses  of  it;  most  likely  because  it  proved  unfortunate." — STOD- 
DARD'S  LOUISIANA. 

"In  1780,  on  the  6th  May,  as  I  discover  by  the  papers  of  the  late  Colonel  Auguste 
Chouteau,  intrusted  to  me  by  the  family  (though  some  writers  assign  the  year  1778), 
St.  Louis  was  attacked  by  a  party  of  Indians  and  British,  who  had  been  ordered  to 
take  possession  of  the  town  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  in  consequence  of  the 
part  which  Spain  had  taken  in  favor  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States.  The 
French,  who  had  preserved  a  good  understanding  with  all  the  Indian  nations,  very 
little  expected  this  blow,  and  were  not  prepared  to  resist  it.  The  garrison  consisted 
of  only  fifty  to  sixty  men,  commanded  by  a  certain  Captain  Lebas,  (a  Spaniard,  and 
not  a  Frenchman,  as  his  name  might  lead  one  to  suppose).  But,  whatsoever  his  origin, 
he  deserves  nothing  but  public  contempt.  This  Lebas,  during  the  first  three  years 
that  the  Spaniards  occupied  the  country,  had  commanded  a  small  fort  somewhere  to- 
ward the  mouth  of  the  Missouri — perhaps  at  Belk  Fontaine  — and  afterward  received 
the  command  of  St.  Louis,  as  a  successor  to  Cruzat,  who  himself  had  succeeded  Piernaz. 
The  only  means  of  defence  for  the  place,  at  that  time,  was  a  stone  tower  erected  near 
the  village  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  and  some  weak  palisades.  There  were  not 
more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  males  in  the  place,  of  whom  not  more  than  seventy 
could  be  relied  upon  as  efficient  to  repel  an  enemy  numbering,  according  to  the  best 
authorities,  nine  hundred  combatants ;  though,  by  some,  their  number  is  represented 
to  have  been  from  one  thousand  four  hundred  to  one  thousand  five  hundred.  It  would 
have  been  useless  to  propose  a  capitulation,  the  conditions  of  which  the  Indians  (as 
has  been  unfortunately  too  often  experienced),  either  from  ignorance  or  trdhchery, 
never  fulfil ;  and  the  inhabitants  knew  too  well  the  character  of  those  with  whom  they 
had  to  deal,  to  expect  salvation  in  any  thing  but  a  courageous  resistance.  The  women 
and  children,  who  could  not  take  part  in  the  defence,  took  shelter  in  the  house  of 
Auguste  Chouteau;  whilst  all  those,  both  men  and  women,  who  were  within  the 
palisades,  commenced  so  vigorous  a  resistance,  that  the  enemy  was  forced  to  retreat. 
But  these,  with  characteristic  ferocity,  threw  themselves  upon  those  of  the  inhabitants 
who,  engaged  in  the  cultivation  of  their  fields,  had  not  had  time  to  reach  the  palisades; 
and  it  is  said  that  sixty  were  killed,  and  thirteen  made  prisoners." — Nicolet's  Reports. 


ST.  LOUIS  HIGH  SCHOOL. 

Corner  of  Olive  and  15th  Streets. 

CALVIN  S.  PENNELL,  Principal. 


FIRST   CONGREGATION   CHURCH. 

Corner  of  10th  and  Locust  Streets. 

TRUMAN  M.  POST,  D.  D.,  Pastor. 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  267 

year  1780,  26th  of  May,  I,  Capuchin  priest  and  apostolic  missionary, 
have  buried  in  the  cemetery  of  this  parish  the  bodies  of  Charles  Biset,  of 
Aimable  Guion,  of  the  son  of  Calve,  and  of  a  negro  of  Chancelier,  killed 
by  the  savages.  In  faith  of  which,  I  have  signed  the  day  and  year  as 
above. — F.  Bernard."  Many  other  bodies  were  found  afterward  and  inter- 
red where  they  were  found,  as  decomposition  had  taken  place,  it  being 
very  warm  weather.  The  year  in  which  this  attack  was  made,  was  ever 
afterward  called  Uannee  du  coup  (the  year  of  the  blow). 

The  opinion  has  been  advanced  by  many,  that  the  governor,  Don  Fer- 
nando de  Leyba,  had  an  understanding  with  the  English,  and  for  some 
stipulated  sum  had  agreed  to  let  the  savages  surprise  the  town.  Certain 
it  was,  that  he  had  sold  most  of  the  powder  belonging  to  the  garrisons 
to  some  traders  just  before  the  attack,  and  used  no  reasonable  precautions 
to  prevent  surprise ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  always  repelled  any  idea  of  an 
attack  on  the  town  as  an  impossible  event.  These  were  ominous  signs,  and 
appeared  to  carry  with  them  the  dark  burden  of  guilt;  but  these  circum 
stances  are  only  suggestive  proofs  against  him.  The  positive  proof  is 
wanting.  On  the  other  hand,  he  was  very  feeble  in  health,  and  addicted 
to  dissipation  in  so  great  a  degree  as  to  stupefy  his  understanding.  One 
or  both  of  these  causes  might  account  for  his  inaction,  and  why  he  did  not 
make  reasonable  preparations  for  an  attack  which  had  been  threatened  for 
so  long  a  period.  His  sordid  nature  furnishes  a  motive  for  the  sale  of 
the  powder.  Be  the  facts  what  they  may,  there  were  suspicions  afloat 
which  have  attached  the  foulest  stigma  to  his  name  and  blasted  it  for- 
ever. He  died  a  little  more  than  a  month  after  the  attack — some  say  by 
poison  administered  by  himself.  In  the  register  of  the  Catholic  church, 
we  find  the  two  following  notices  of  burial:  "In  the  year  1779,  Sep- 
tember 7th,  I,  Capuchin  priest,  missionary,  and  apostolic  curate  of  St. 
Louis,  have  buried  in  the  cemetery  of  this  church  opposite  the  balustrade 
to  the  right,  the  body  of  the  Lady  Marie  de  la  Conceptione  y  Zezar,  wife 
of  Don  Fernando  de  Leyba,  commandant  of  this  post,  captain  of  infantry, 
and  have  administered  the  sacraments  of  penitence  and  extreme  unction. 
In  faith  of  which,  I  have  signed  the  day  and  year  as  above. 

"  F.  BERNARD." 

"In  the  year  1780,  on  the  28th  of  June,  I,  a  Capuchin  priest  and  apos- 
tolic missionary,  curate  of  St.  Louis,  Illinois  county,  province  of  Louisiana, 
bishopric  of  Cuba,  have  buried  in  this  church,  immediately  opposite  the 
balustrade  on  the  right,  the  body  of  Don  Fernando  de  Leyba,  captain  of 
infantry  in  the  battalion  of  Louisiana,  and  the  commandant  of  this  post, 
having  received  all  the  sacraments  of  our  mother,  the  Holy  Church.  In 
testimony  whereof,  I  have  signed  this  present  the  day  and  year  aforesaid. 

"f  F.  BERNARD,  Miss." 

After  the  death  of  Fernando  de  Leyba,  his  lieutenant,  jSilvio  Francisco 
Cartabona,  exercised  the  functions  of  lieutenant-governor  until  the  arrival 
of  Cruzat,  who  had  again  been  appointed  commandant  at  St.  Louis,  and 
then  the  town,  which  had  so  narrowly  escaped  the  attack  of  the  Indians, 
was  regularly  fortified.  A  reference  to  the  map  attached  to  this  work 
will  show  the  course  of  this  wall,  which  was  a  strong  stockade  of  posts, 
with  forts  and  bastions  at  proper  intervals.  However,  the  efficiency  of 
these  fortifications  was  never  tested;  for  after  the  treaty  of  1783,  the 
savages,  though  often  alarming  the  inhabitants  by  attacking  some  of  the 
10 


2C8  THE   GREAT   WEST 


isolated  settlements  that  were  forming  in  the  Missouri,  never  attempted 
another  attack  npon  St.  Louis.7 

During  Crnzat's  second  administration,  there  occurred  the  only  murder 
that  ever  took  place  either  during  the  French  or  Spanish  domination. 
One  of  the  soldiers  of  the  garrison,  in  a  paroxysm  of  rage,  stabbed  another 
to  the  heart,  and  was  immediately  ironed  and  sent  to  New  Orleans. 

Though  St.  Louis  was  no  more  disturbed  by  the  savages,  yet  its  com- 
merce was  very  much  damaged  by  a  nest  of  pirates  who  used  to  station 
themselves  at  the  Grand  Tower,  a  large  column  of  rock  fifty  feet  in  height, 
and  situated  nearly  half  way  between  St.  Louis  and  the  mouth  of  the 
Ohio.  Before  the  propelling  power  of  steam  navigation  became  known, 
the  current  of  the  Mississippi  was  so  swift  about  the  tower,  that  the  voy- 
agers were  compelled  to  go  in  advance  of  their  boats  and  draw  them  by 
ropes  close  along  the  banks  of  the  river.  The  pirates,  who  would  be 
lurkingnearthetower,  would  suddenly  attack  them  when  off  their  guard, 
take  the  merchandise,  and  never  spared  any  one  to  tell  the  tale. 

The  pirates  consisted  of  lawless  white  men,  runaway  negroes,  and  half- 
blooded  Indians.  They  became  the  terror  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the 
foulest  murders  were  committed  by  them  for  a  series  of  years,  until  no 
single  boat  dared  venture  by  that  fatal  place,  where  it  was  certain  that 
the  voyagers  would  have  to  run  the  gauntlet.  It  was  necessary  that  sev- 
eral boats  should  associate  together  for  protection,  which  course  was  pur- 
sued until  the  country  began  to  fill  up  by  the  hardy  pioneers,  and  an 
attack  made  by  a  well-organized  band  of  voyagers  induced  the  gang  to 
disperse,  and  left  the  river  free  from  molestation.  The  many  murders 
that  have  been  committed  at  the  Grand  Tower  has  given  birth  to  many 
a  wild  legend  of  rapine  and  bloodshed. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  summer  of  1785,  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis 
had  a  fright  even  greater  than  that  they  had  received  from  the  savages 
during  L'annee  du  coup.  The  Mississippi  rose  to  such  a  height  as  to 
threaten  to  inundate  the  town  and  sweep  it  from  existence.  The  whole 
American  Bottom  was  a  sea ;  Cahokia  and  Kaskaskia  were  surrounded  by 
the  angry  waters;  and  a  large  quantity  of  grain  and  stock  were  swept 
away.  Nearly  all  of  the  town  was  then  situated  on  Main  street,  and 
when  the  waters  rose  above  the  bluff  banks  of  the  river,  there  commenced 
a  scene  of  apprehension  and  terror  that  were  more  than  painful  from  their 
duration.  Just  as  the  inhabitants  were  on  the  eve  of  removing  what  was 
valuable  in  their  little  dwellings,  the  river  commenced  to  subside,  relieving 
them  from  imminent  danger  and  the  agony  of  uncertainty.  This  was  an 
event  sufficient  to  form  an  era  in  the  epoch  of  the  times,  and  the  year  was 
denominated  L'annee  des  grands  eaux  (the  year  of  the  great  waters). 

From  the  Illinois  Monthly  Magazine,  an  excellent  periodical  in  exist- 
ence many  years  ago,  we  make  the  following  extract  of  an  article  con- 
tributed by  Wilson  Prim,  Esq.,  whose  ancestors  were  at  the  laying  out 
of  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  It  speaks  of  a  band  of  pirates  located  at  Cotton- 
wood  Creek,  commanded  by  two  men  named  Culbert  and  Magilbray. 

"In  the  spring  of  1787,  a  barge  belonging  to  Mr.  Beausoliel  had  started 
from  New  Orleans,  richly  laden  with  merchandise,  for  St.  Louis.  As  she 
approached  Cottonwood  Creek,  a  breeze  sprang  up  and  bore  it  swiftly  by. 
This  the  robbers  perceived,  and  immediately  dispatched  a  company  of 
men  up  the  river  for  the  purpose  of  heading.  The  manoauvre  was  effected 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  269 

in  the  course  of  two  days,  at  an  island  which  has  since  been  called  Beau- 
soliePs  Island.  The  barge  had  just  put  ashore — the  robbers  boarded  and 
ordered  the  crew  to  return  down.  The  men  were  disarmed,  guards  were 
stationed  in  every  part  of  the  vessel,  and  she  was  soon  under  way.  Mr. 
Beausoliel  gave  himself  up  to  despair.  He  had  all  he  possessed  in  the 
purchase  of  the  barge  and  its  cargo,  and  now  that  he  was  to  be  deprived 
of  them  all,  he  was  in  agony.  This  vessel  would  have  shared  the  fate  of 
many  others  that  had  preceded  it,  but  for  the  heroic  daring  of  a  negro, 
who  was  one  of  the  crew.  Casotte,  the  negro,  was  a  .man  rather  under 
the  ordinary  height,  very  slender  in  person,  but  of  extraordinary  strength 
and  activity.  The  color  of  his  skin  and  the  curl  of  his  hair,  alone  told 
that  he  was  a  negro  ;  for  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  his  race  had  given 
place  in  him  to  what  may  be  termed  beauty.  His  forehead  was  finely 
moulded;  his  eyes  small  and  sparkling  as  those  of  a  serpent;  his  nose 
aquiline  ;  his  lips  of  a  proper  thickness ;  in  fact,  the  whole  appearan-ce  of 
the  man,  joined  to  his  known  character  for  shrewdness  and  courage, 
seemed  to  indicate  that,  under  better  circumstances,  he  might  have  shone 
conspicuously  in  the  history  of  nations.  Casotte,  as  soon  as  the  robbers 
had  taken  possession  of  the  barge,  began  to  make  every  demonstration  of 
uncontrollable  joy.  He  danced,  sang,  laughed,  and  soon  induced  his 
captors  to  believe  that  they  had  delivered  him  from  irksome  slavery,  and 
that  his  actions  were  the  ebullitions  of  pleasure.  His  constant  attention, 
too,  to  their  smallest  wants  and  wishes,  won  their  confidence  ;  and  whilst 
they  kept  a  watchful  eye  on  the  other  prisoners,  they  permitted  him  to 
roam  through  the  vessel  unmolested  and  unwatched.  This  was  the  state 
of  things  that  the  negro  desired  ;  he  seized  the  first  opportunity  to  speak 
to  Mr.  Beausoliel,  and  beg  permission  to  rid  him  of  his  dangerous  intrud- 
ers. He  laid  his  plan  before  his  master,  who,  after  a  great  deal  of  hesita- 
tion, acceded  to  it.  Casotte  then  spoke  to  two  of  the  crew,  likewise 
negroes,  and  engaged  them  in  the  conspiracy.  Casotte  was  cook,  and 
it  was  agreed  between  him  and  his  fellow-conspirators  that  the  signal  for 
dinner  should  be  the  signal  for  action.  The  hour  of  dinner  at  length 
arrived.  The  robbers  assembled  in  considerable  numbers  on  the  deck, 
and  stationed  themselves  at  the  bow  and  stern  and  along  the  sides,  to 
prevent  any  rising  of  the  men.  Casotte  went  among  them  with  the 
most  unconscious  look  and  demeanor  imaginable.  As  soon  as  he  per- 
ceived that  his  comrades  had  taken  the  stations  he  had  assigned  to  them, 
he  took  his  position  at  the  bow  of  the  boat,  near  one  of  the  robbers,  a 
stout,  herculean  man,  who  was  armed  cap-a-pie.  Every  thing  being  ar- 
ranged to  his  satisfaction,  Casotte  gave  the  preconcerted  signal,  and 
immediately  the  robber  near  him  was  struggling  in  the  waters.  With 
the  speed  of  lightning  he  went  from  one  robber  to  another,  and  in  less 
than  three  minutes  he  had  thrown  fourteen  of  them  overboard.  Then 
seizing  an  oar,  he  struck  on  the  head  those  who  attempted  to  save  them- 
selves by  grappling  the  running  boards — then  shot  with  the  muskets  that 
had  been  dropped  on  deck,  those  who  swam  away.  In  the  mean  time, 
the  other  conspirators  were  not  idle,  but  did  almost  as  much  execution 
as  their  leader.  The  deck  was  soon  cleared,  and  the  robbers  that  re- 
mained below  were  too  few  in  number  to  offer  any  resistance. 

"  Having  got  rid  of  his  troublesome  visitors,  Mr.  Beausoliel  deemed  it 
prudent  to  return  to  New  Orleans.     This  he  accordingly  did,  taking  care, 


270  THE    GREAT   WEST 


when  he  arrived  near  Cottonwood  Creek,  to  keep  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river.  He  reached  New  Orleans,  and  gave  an  account  of  his  capture  and 
liberation  to  the  governor,  who  thereupon  issued  an  order  that  the  boats 
bound  for  St.  Louis  in  the  following  spring  should  all  go  in  company,  to 
afford  mutual  assistance  in  case  of  necessity.  Spring  came,  and  ten  keel 
boats,  each  provided  with  swivels,  and  their  respective  crews  well  armed, 
took  their  departure  from  New  Orleans,  determined,  if  possible,  to  destroy 
most  of  the  robbers.  When  they  neared  the  Cottonwood  Creek,  the 
foremost  boat  perceived  several  rnen  near  the  mouth,  among  the  trees. 
The  anchor  was  dropped,  and  she  waited  until  the  other  boats  should 
come  up.  In  a  few  moments  they  appeared,  and  a  consultation  was  held, 
in  which  it  was  determined  that  a  sufficient  number  of  men  should  re- 
main on  board  whilst  the  others  should  proceed  on  shore  to  attack  the 
robbers.  The  boats  were  rowed  to  shore  in  a  line,  and  those  appointed 
for  that  purpose  landed  and  began  to  search  the  island  in  quest  of  the 
robbers,  in  vain.  They  had  disappeared.  Three  or  four  flat-boats  were 
found  in  the  bend  of  the  creek,  laden  with  all  kinds  of  valuable  merchan- 
dise— the  fruits  of  their  depredations.  A  long,  low  hut  was  discovered — 
the  dwelling  of  the  robbers — in  which  were  stowed  away  numerous  cases 
of  guns  destined  for  the  fur  trade,  and  ammunition  and  provisions  of  all 
kinds.  The  greater  part  of  these  things  were  put  on  board  the  boats,  and 
restored  to  their  respective  owners,  in  St.  Louis. 

"  This  proceeding  had  the  effect  of  dispersing  the  robbers,  for  they 
were  never  after  heard  of.  The  arrival  often  barges  together  at  St.  Louis 
was  an  unusual  spectacle,  and  the  year  1788  has  ever  since  been  called 
L\tnnee  des  dix  bateaux  (the  year  of  the  ten  boats)." 

The  Mississippi,  at  that  time,  flowed  through  a  vast  solitude,  which 
afforded  an  opportunity  for  banditti  to  exercise  their  unlawful  propensities 
almost  with  impunity.  There  were  but  few  forts  from  St.  Louis  to  New 
Orleans,  and  these  were  so  far  asunder,  that  they  offered  but  little  pro- 
tection to  the  commerce  between  the  capitals  of  Upper  and  Lower  Louis- 
iana. It  was  at  long  intervals  that  the  boats  ran  between  the  two  places, 
and  they  were  usually  richly  freighted,  and  offered  strong  inducements  to 
the  freebooters  who  infested  the  most  secluded  solitudes  of  the  river, 
watching,  like  cormorants,  the  appearance  of  their  prey.  There  was 
many  a  death-struggle  on  the  bosom  of  the  Mississippi,  many  a  fruitless 
appeal  to  mercy,  and  many  a  death-shriek  of  torture,  as  the  rifle,  the 
knife,  and  the  tomahawk  did  their  murderous  work.  When  all  was 
done,  plash  !  plash !  were  the  signs  that  a  watery  sepulchre  had  received 
the  bodies  of  the  victims. 

In  the  year  1788,  the  authority  of  Francisco  Cruzat  ceased,  and  Manuel 
Perez  became  commandant-general  of  the  post  of  St.  Louis,  of  the  west 
Illinois  country.  It  was  during  this  time  that  the, friendly  relations,  subsist- 
ing since  the  Revolution,  between  the  east  and  west  sides  of  the  Mississippi 
were  materially  interrupted,  by  the  Spanish  government  laying  claim  to 
the  exclusive  right  of  the  navigation  of  the  river.  New  Orleans  and 
Mobile  had  heretofore  been  the  chief  markets-  for  all  the  grain  raised  in 
the  fertile  regions  of  the  Wabash  and  the  bottoms  of  the  Ohio,  and  the 
claims  of  Spain  engendered  bitter  feelings  of  discontent  throughout  a 
most  extensive  region,  and  fast  filling  up  with  an  industrious  and  thrifty 
population.  It  is  not  the  province  of  this  work  to  enter  into  a  history  of 


AND    HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  271 

the  intrigues  carried  on  by  the  Spanish  governor  at  New  Orleans  with 
some  of  the  leading  citizens  in  the  South  and  West  of  the  Union,  in  which 
was  implicated  an  officer  of  high  military  .rank,  who,  for  his  friendly 
feelings  toward  his  Catholic  Majesty,  had  received  the  privilege  of  navi- 
gating the  Mississippi,  his  goods  free  of  duty;  but  only  to  show  the 
cause  why  the  Americans  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  who  had 
always  been  most  cordial  with  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis,  should  ex- 
hibit a  subsequent  coolness.  However,  the  French,  who  chiefly  occupied 
the  region  west  of  the  Mississippi  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Louis,  were  but 
little  affected  by  the  quarrel  between  the  two  nations,  and  continued  to 
visit  their  friends  and  relations  in  the  towns  on  the  west  side  as 
before. 

At  this  time  St.  Louis  went  by  the  name  of  Pain  Court.  This  name 
originated  from  the  circumstance  of  there  always  being  a  dearth  of  the 
"staff  of  life"  in  the  early  existence  of  the  town,  and  hunters  and  traders 
who  carne  from  the  neighborhood  of  the  Wabash,  wishing  to  replenish 
their  stock  of  provisions,  in  making  their  purchase  would  remark  the 
short  allowance  of  bread  they  obtained  for  their  money,  and  in  revenge 
for  the  dearness  of  the  article,  conferred  upon  the  town  the  sobriquet  of 
Pain  Court  (short  of  bread). 

St.  Louis  had  rapidly  increased  in  population,  and  in  1788  it  and  the 
adjoining  villages  contained  eleven  hundred  and  ninety-seven  inhabitants, 
this  without  including  St.  Genevieve,  which  had  grown  likewise  apace,  and 
contained  a  population  exceeding  eight  hundred.  Pain  Court  then  con- 
tained no  tavern.  There  was  no  need  of  that  institution — that  mockery 
of  a  home  which  so  often  irritates  the  traveller  with  its  pretended  com- 
forts, which  it  sells  out  at  such  extortionate  rates.  All  of  the  little  huts 
and  more  comfortable  buildings  were  the  abodes  of  hospitality.  In  Pain 
Court,  the  stranger  would  receive  a  shelter,  and  the  pilgrim  could  rest 
from  his  wanderings  without  any  remuneration.  The  desire  of  gain  had 
not  then  chilled  the  warm  gush  of  feeling  which  naturally  flows  from  the 
heart  of  every  individual,  unless  acted  upon  by  the  cold  atmosphere  of 
selfish  considerations. 

The  Indians,  though  they  made  no  direct  attack  upon  St.  Louis,  fre- 
quently would  come  down  the  Missouri  in  small  war-parties,  and  lurk 
about  the  neighborhood,  and,  if  an  opportunity  offered,  would  take  pris- 
soner,  or  more  frequently,  kill  any  of  the  inhabitants  who  had  indis- 
creetly wandered  too  far  from  the  town.  One  of  the  inhabitants  by  the 
name  of  Duchouquet,  whilst  alone  in  the  neighborhood  now  known  as 
Chouteau's  Pond,  was  set  upon  by  a  party  of  Delaware  Indians,  called  by 
the  French  Les  Loups  (wolves),  and  immediately  murdered  and  scalped. 
His  brother  was  some  distance  from  him,  and  seeing  the  Indians,  escaped 
to  the  village  with  the  news,  and  a  company  of  soldiers  started  in  imme- 
diate pursuit,  under  an  officer  by  the  name  of  Tayon.  By  taking  a  cir- 
cuitous route,  they  came  unexpectedly  upon  the  party  of  Indians,  and 
Francis  Duchouquet  singling  out  the  Indian  who  had  killed  his  brother, 
and  whose  dripping  scalp-lock  was  hanging  to  his  belt,  brought  him  to 
the  ground  with  his  rifle,  the  ball  taking  effect  in  his  thigh.  He  rushed 
upon  the  savage  with  the  intention  of  stabbing  him  to  the  heart,  but 
seeing  him  prostrate  upon  the  ground  and  writhing  in  pain,  he  declared 
to  a  friend  afterward  "  that  he  could  not  do  it."  However,  he  was  dis- 


272  THE    GREAT   WEST 


patched  by  the  solders,  whose  feelings  were  not  so  sensitive.  Four  more 
of  the  savages  were  killed  in  the  pursuit.* 

It  was  the  policy  of  the  Spanish  government  to  encourage,  as  much  as 
possible,  emigration  from  the  United  States,  and  they  offered  the  most 
liberal  grants  of  land  to  induce  the  industrious  and  enterprising  Americans 
to  immigrate  to  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi.  However,  all  of 
their  liberal  inducements  were  vain,  and  no  Americans  took  up  their  res- 
idence in  St.  Louis  or  any  of  the  adjoining  villages  until  nearly  the  close 
of  the  Spanish  domination.  This  arose  in  part  from  the  difficulties  exist- 
ing at  the  time  between  Spain  and  the  United  States  relative  to  the  navi- 
gation of  the  Mississippi,  and  partly  to  the  natural  dislike  of  a  people  just 
freed  from  monarchical  oppression,  and  enjoying  the  first  fruits  of  liberty, 
to  enter  again  under  the  subjection  of  any  government  that  was  not 
organized  on  the  same  broad  basis  of  freedom  as  marked  their  own. 
There  was,  nevertheless,  a  considerable  emigration  from  Canada,  the  east 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  New  Orleans ;  and  St.  Louis  continued  to  increase. 
Her  traders  and  hunters  were  venturesome  and  enterprising,  going  far  up 
the  Missouri,  and  dwelling  with  the  fierce  tribes  of  Indians  who  dwelt 
upon  their  banks.  Many  of  them  paid  with  their  lives  the  price  of  their 
temerity,  and  in  some  fitful  mood  of  the  savages,  were  cleaved  with  the 
tomahawk,  or  still  more  horrible,  were  impaled  and  burnt  at  the  stake. 
These  dreadful  occurrences  were  not  frequent,  as  the  Indians  found  that 
such  acts  would  keep  the  whites  altogether  away  from  their  country,  and 
the  goods  which  they  first  looked  upon  with  curiosity  and  esteemed  as 
luxuries,  after  a  few  years  became  a  necessity,  and  almost  essential  to 
their  existence.  Unfortunately,  the  habiliments  of  civilization  had  for 
them  all  the  poisonous  qualities  of  the  shirt  of  Ncssus — they  brought  suf- 
fering, decay,  and  death. 

The  trade  of  St.  Louis  was  much  interrupted  when  war  existed  between 
Spain  and  England,  contemporary  with  our  Revolution,  as  wealthy  mer- 
chants from  Canada  were  accustomed  to  come  west  to  purchase  furs  and 
peltries  for  the  European  market.  When  peace  was  declared,  in  1783, 
between  the  three  powers — United  States,  Spain,  and  England — the  trade 
with  Canada,  which  had  been  suspended,  was  again  resumed,  and  the 
traders  at  St.  Louis  had  another  market  than  New  Orleans,  and  received 
better  pay  for  their  goods. 

The  administration  of  Perez  was  a  prosperous  one.  He  was  mild  in 
his  authority,  and  of  a  frank  and  sociable  disposition,  very  much  resem- 
bling that  of  his  predecessor.  He  mingled  freely  with  the  inhabitants ; 
with  his  family  attended  the  festive  gatherings;  and  in  the  convivial  hour 
threw  off  all  of  the  austerity  of  the  commandant.  The  surveys  had  much 
increased  during  his  administration,  and  he  performed  one  of  those 
diplomatic  feats  which  great  minds  alone  can  conceive  and  accomplish. 
The  Osage  Indians,  a  powerful  tribe  up  the  Missouri,  had  been  always 
most  troublesome  neighbors,  and  at  every  opportune  moment  would 
make  a  descent  upon  the  inhabitants  on  the  outskirts  of  St.  Louis  or 
some  of  the  adjoining  villages,  murder  or  take  off  some  of  them  prisoners 
who  inconsiderately  had  wandered  too  far  from  the  towns,  and  drive  off 
any  cattle  and  horses  which  had  strayed  at  a  distance  on  the  prairie.  As 

*  Hunt's  Minutes. 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL    METROPOLIS.  273 

when  the  fire  ravages  the  prairie,  it  is  found  best  to  stay  its  course  by 
opposing  flames  in  a  contrary  direction,  so  Perez  resolved  to  stop  savage 
ferocity  by  staking  against  it  some  barbarous  native  force,  as  a  protec- 
tion to  his  own  settlement.  He  therefore  sent  emissaries  to  the  Shaw- 
nees  and  Delawares,  two  powerful  tribes  east  of  the  Mississippi,  who 
smoked  with  them  the  calumet,  and  offered  them,  a  large  grant  of  land  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Cape  Girardeau.  This  invitation  many  of  the  Shaw- 
nees  and  Delawares  accepted,  and  settled  in  the  neighborhood  of  Cape 
Girardeau,  when  they  resisted  the  incursions,  in  a  great  degree,  of  other 
tribes,  and  afforded  much  protection  to  the  infant  settlements.  It  was 
through  the  agency  of  a  man  by  the  name  of  Lorimer,  who  afterward 
became  the  commandant  at  the  post  of  St.  Genevieve,  that  the  Indians 
were  induced  to  come  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  as  a  reward  for  his 
services,  he  afterward  obtained  a  grant  of  thirty  thousand  acres  of 
land.  8 

Perez  was  succeeded  by  Zenon  Trudeau,  in  1793,  who,  from  the  mild- 
ness of  his  disposition  and  his  affable  manner,  became  very  popular  with 
the  people.  He  did  all  that  he  could  to  encourage  immigration,  and  for 
that  reason  the  grants  became  more  liberal  in  extent,  and  the  surveys 
were  extended  far  to  the  westward.  The  communication  between  St. 
Louis  and  New  Orleans  had  become  much  more  frequent,  and  St.  Louis 
became  the  abode  of  many  prosperous  merchants.  There  were  noble 
cavaliers,  who  had  been  ostracized  by  their  governments  for  political 
offences,  and  many  from  a  love  of  adventure  sought  the  growing  town  on 
the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  and  forgetting  the  pride  of  birth,  put 
themselves  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  happy,  light-hearted  inhabitants, 
adopting  their  habits  and  mingling  in  their  amusements.  Some  of  them 
would  go  far  up  the  Missouri,  and  live  with  the  savage  tribes  who  inhab- 
ited those  regions,  and  so  effectually  identifying  themselves  with  some 
favorite  tribe,  that  they  fought  their  battles  with  other  hostile  nations, 
and  being  skilful  in  the  use  of  the  destructive  arms  of  civilized  warfare, 
became  great  warriors,  and  finally  chiefs  of  the  tribes.  The  Indians 
had  always  a  predilection  for  the  whites  whenever  they  would  wil- 
Hngly  adopt  their  customs,  and  one  of  their  favorite  feats  was  to  lurk  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  settlements  and  steal  a  child,  and  hurry  it  to 
their  homes  in  the  forest.  If  the  child  proved  a  boy,  after  washing  him 
a  multitude  of  times,  and,  as  they  supposed,  washing  away  all  of  its 
white  nature,  they  would  commence  training  him  in  their  tactics  to  make 
him  a  great  warrior,  and  after  a  few  years  the  child  would  become  like 
his  savage  associates,  with  the  same  barbarous  instincts,  love  of  forest  life, 
and  a  darling  desire  for  the  fame  of  a  savage  warrior. 

During  the  time  that  Zenon  Trudeau  was  commandant,  St.  Louis  and 
the  adjoining  villages  having  considerably  increased,  there  became  much 
less  fear  of  the  Indians,  and  the  white  men  pushed  farther  into  the  wil- 
derness. The  surveys  became  much  larger,  and  the  extraordinary  terms 
held  out  to  settlers  by  conferring  upon  them  large  grants  of  lands,  induced 
many  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  cross  the  Mississippi  and  take  up 
their  residence  on  the  Spanish  domain.  Business,  in  all  its  different 
amitications,  became  more  extended;  the  log-huts  were  being  replaced 
with  neat  one-story  cottages,  with  piazzas  in  front  and  rear;  and  every 
thing  indicated  increasing  thrift  and  prosperity.  Still  there  was  but  little 


274:  THE    GREAT    WEST 


attention  paid  to  agriculture,  and  the  great  emulation  among  the  trading 
inhabitants  was  to  engross  the  greatest  amount  of  Indian  trade.  This 
trade  was  principally  carried  on  up  the  Missouri  River  and  its  tributaries, 
as  the  Upper  Mississippi  was  monopolized  principally  by  traders  from 
Canada.  So  fond  did  those  persons  become  of  living  with  the  Indians, 
after  pursuing  that  life  for  a  little  time,  that  they  no  more  relished  the 
habits  and  customs  of  civilized  communities;  and  when  by  business 
forced  into  the  pale  of  civilization,  they  became  restless  and  discontented, 
and  longed  for  their  tawny  friends,  their  wigwam  hardships,  and  the  un- 
restrained liberty  of  forest  life.  So  perfectly  Indianized  did  some  of  them 
become,  that  when,  by  controlling  circumstances,  the)''  were  compelled  to 
live  in  the  atmosphere  of  civilization,  they  drooped  languished,  and 
finally  died,  for  the  want  of  that  wild  excitement  which,  had  become  part 
of  their  existence. 

Some  of  the  traders  who  went  up  the  Missouri  with  goods,  and  re- 
turned when  the  exchange  for  peltries  was  effected,  would  bring  Indian 
boys  and  attempt  to  raise  them  in  their  families ;  but  every  effort  was 
unsuccessful.  Some  would  escape,  others  would  die,  and  others  would 
again  be  returned  to  their  tribes  as  incorrigible,  after  vain  efforts  had 
been  made  to  induce  them  to  become  attached  to  the  amenities  of  life, 
and  become  useful  workers  in  the  busy  hive  of  a  civilized  community. 

The  Indians  cannot  exist  with  the  white  men.  They  were  not  formed 
by  nature  to  subserve  the  purposes  of  civilization.  They  were  made  for 
the  forest:  their  existence  was  identified  with  the  trees,  and  when  the 
axe  did  its  work  of  destruction,  it  severed  likewise  the  threads  of  savage 
life.  Like  the  enchanted  wood  of  Tasso,  when  a  tree  was  felled  a  life  was 
destroyed.  Another  century  will  pass,  and  the  old  forests  and  American 
Indians  will  have  passed  away  together. 

Like  most  of  the  Spanish  commandants,  Trudeau  was  of  an  amiable 
temperament  and  mild  in  authority.  His  family  mingled  freely  with  the 
natives,  nor  did  he  or  they  preserve  any  exterior  emblem  of  position  and 
importance,  but  associated  with  the  citizens  on  terms  of  perfect  equality. 
His  administration  was  a  popular  one,  and  when  he  retired  from  the  office 
of  commandant,  it  was  universally  regretted.  This  popular  commandant 
died  some  years  afterward  in  New  Orleans. 

Trudeau  was  succeeded  by  Charles  Dehault  Delassus  de  Delusiere,  in 
1798 — a  Frenchman  by  birth,  but  long  in  the  Spanish  service.  For  some 
years  previously,  he  had  been  commandant  of  the  post  of  New  Madrid,  and 
having  given  such  satisfaction  in  his  executive  office,  he  was  promoted  to 
lieutenant-governor  of  Upper  Louisiana.  He  was  at  this  time  unmar- 
ried, and"  being  of  a  social  disposition,  untainted  and  unspoiled  by  the 
rays  of  authority,  he  became  the  favorite  of  the  ambitious  fair  ones  of  the 
city,  and  "  the  observed  of  all  observers"  in  the  ball-room.  His  first  act 
on  coming  into  power,  was  to  have  the  census  taken  of  Upper  Louisiana, 
which  exhibited  the  following  result : — 


1785.— St.  Louis  and  villages 897 

"       St.  Gene  vie  ve ;    594- 

1788. — St.  Louis  and  villages 1,197 

St.  Genevieve     | 896 


AND    HKK   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  275 

1799.— St.  Louis 925 

"       Carondelet 184 

St.  Charles 875 

St.  Fernando 276 

Marias  des  Liard 376 

Maraniec 115 

St.  Andrew 393 

St.  Genevieve   949 

New  Bourbon   560 

Cape  Girardeau 521 

New  Madrid 782 

Little  Meadows  . .  72 


6,028 

Whites 4, 948 

Free  colored 197 

Slaves  .  .  883 


So  great  did  the  immigration  become,  that  the  frenzied  feeling  of  specu- 
lation commenced  to  seize  upon  the  settlers,  and  they  used  every  possible 
device  to  get  as  many  and  as  large  grants  of  land,  which  they  knew  would 
rapidly  enhance  in  value,  and  which,  in  a.  short  time,  they  could  sell  at  a 
remunerative  value.  It  was  not  the  healthful  spirit  of  industry  which 
caused  them  to  solicit  grants ;  the  exciting  fever  of  speculation  had  begun 
to  rage  in  their  veins,  arid  they  were  anxious  for  land — not  for  grazing  or 
agricultural  purposes,  but  that  they  might  sell  it,  and  by  the  sale  realize 
enormous  profits.  These  grants  grew  very  excessive,  and  we  will  mention 
a  few  to  give  an  idea  of  their  extent.  James  Mackay,  who  was  once  a 
Spanish  officer  in  command  of  St.  Charles,  applied  to  Delassus  for  a  grant 
of  30,000  acres  of  land,  alleging  in  his  petition  that  he  had  been  a  Span- 
ish commandant,  had  been  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  and  had 
received  no  compensation  for  his  services.  In  consideration  of  these  facts, 
the  lieutenant-governor  graciously  granted  him  the  lands.  Francis 
Savier  obtained  a  grant  of  8,800  acres  for  nearly  the  same  reasons,  and 
Maturin  Bouvet  obtained  a  grant  of  twenty  arpents  square  because  he  had 
been  robbed  of  a  few  inconsiderable  articles  by  the  Indians  while  working 
a  saline  (salt-pit).  There  were  many  grants  of  the  same  nature,  conferred 
with  the  same  extravagant  liberality  on  the  slightest  pretexts.  There  was 
one  grant  petitioned  for  and  received,  the  petitioner  alleging  that  himself 
and  brother  had  never  neglected  to  give  proof  of  their  zeal  to  the  Spanish 
government,  and  being  engaged  extensively  in  the  Indian  trade,  they  had, 
on  all  occasions,  made  efforts  to  conciliate  the  tribes,  and  make  them  sub- 
servient to  the  Spanish  government.  He  obtained  the  land. 

From  the  Mississippi  to  New  Mexico,  the  country  was  a  wilderness,  and 
consequently  a  part  of  the  royal  domain,  and  a  few  thousand  acres'  grant 
when  they  had  such  an  extent  to  draw  upon,  appeared  like  taking  a  grain 
of  sand  from  the  sea-shore,  and  the  Spanish  commandants  were  not  at  all 
economical  in  their  distribution,  because  there  was  no  necessity.  In 
the  following  chapter,  the  subject  of  grants  will  be  more,  fully  treated 
upon. 

Under  Delassus,  there  were  two  large  grants  of  land  for  distillery  pur- 
poses, and  then  an  additional  grant  to  furnish  a  sufficient  supply  of  fuel 
for  distilling  grain;  and  after  that  time  there  was  no  more  whiskey  im- 


276  THE   GREAT   WEST 


ported  into  the  province  of  Upper  Louisiana.*  From  that  day  to  this,  St. 
Louis  has  had  a  plentiful  supply  of  the  poisonous  fluid ;  only  now,  from 
its  peculiar  manufacture,  it  is  much  cheaper  and  more  deadly.  As  the 
arts  and  sciences  have  advanced,  the  ability  to  do  good  and  harm  in- 
creases in  equal  ratio. 

During  the  year  1800,  events  were  taking  place  in  Europe  of  such 
magnitude  that  they  were  doomed  to  have  a  most  important  influence 
over  the  political  currents  of  America.  With  the  iron  hand  of  power  and 
a  wily  diplomatic  policy,  Napoleon  Bonaparte  had  forced  Spain  into  a 
treaty,  by  which  she  ceded  to  France  all  of  her  territory  known  as  Loui- 
siana west  of  the  Mississippi,  in  consideration  that  the  Prince  of  Parma, 
who  was  son-in-law  to  the  king  of  Spain,  should  be  established  in 
Tuscany. 

This  treaty  was  very  dissatisfactory  to  England,  as  she  was  jealous  of 
the  growing  power  of  France  under  the  auspices  of  that  splendid  genius 
which  proved  both  her  glory  and  downfall.  The  mistress  of  the  seas 
determined  that  France  should  never  take  possession  of  her  acquired 
regions,  and  for  that  purpose  kept  the  coast  of  France  under  surveillance, 
so  as  to  prevent  any  departure  of  troops  for  America.  Napoleon  saw 
that  it  was  folly  to  attempt  coping  with  the  maritime  power  of  England, 
which,  when  he  was  in  Egypt,  had  nearly  swept  from  existence  the  navy 
of  France,  and  through  the  sagacious  Talleyrand,  determined  to  sell  to 
the  United  States  the  property  which  controlling  circumstances  prevented 
him  from  occupying.  Mr.  Livingston  was  at  that  time  the  minister- 
plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  to  France,  and  seeing  the  desire  of 
the  French  government,  he  obtained  the  sanction  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  then 
President,  to  purchase  the  country  which  the  marine  power  of  Eng- 
land and  absorbing  events  in  Europe  prevented  France  from  occupying. 

Mr.  Livingston  was  a  diplomat  of  the  first  water,  but  he  had  the  prince 
of  diplomatists  to  cope  with  in  the  persons  of  Talleyrand  and  Marbois,  and  it 
was  thought  advisable  by  Mr.  Jefferson  to  dispatch  Mr.  Munroe  to  Paris  as 
an  auxiliary  in  effecting  the  purchase  of  Upper  Louisiana.  After  some 
masterly  moves  on  both  sides  on  the  political  chess-board,  the  sale  was 
effected,  the  United  States  agreeing  to  pay  60,000,000  francs  for  the 
extensive  province,  and  assuming  a  debt  of  20,000,000  more,  owing  by 
France  by  way  of  indemnity  to  American  citizens  for  maritime  spoliation. 
The  treaty  was  concluded  on  the  30th  of  April,  1803,  and  signed  on  the 
3d  of  May. 

While  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  was  pending  between  France  and  the 
United  States,  in  consequence  of  the  large  number  of  grant*  the  surveys 
had  been  extended  far  into  the  wilderness,  and  in  consequence,  the  sur- 
veyors and  their  attaches  were  exposed  to  the  attacks  of  hostile  Indians. 
One  of  the  deputy  surveyors,  by  the  name  of  Bouvet,  whilst  surveying  a 
piece  of  land  west  of  St.  Genevieve,  was  taken  prisoner  by  a  band  of 
Osage  Indians,  and  after  being  subjected  to  the  torture,  was  burned  at  the 
stake.  There  were  numerous  murders  committed  by  that  savage  tribe, 
who  watched  every  occasion  to  attack  isolated  detachments  of  the  whites 
when  at  a  distance  from  the  forts.  There  was  no  redress  for  these  murders, 

*  One  of  these  grants  was  to  Colonel  Auguste  Chouteau,  who  built  the  first  distil- 
lery in  St.  Louis. 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  277 

for  immediately  they  had  performed  their  bloody  work,  the  Indians  would 
retreat  to  their  own  country  through  more  than  a  hundred  miles  of  wil- 
derness, which  the  whites  could  not  muster  a  sufficient  number  of  troops 
to  invade.  The  only  safety  for  the  inhabitants  was  to  keep  near  their 
forts,  to  which  they  could  retreat  at  the  first  warning  of  danger,  and  could 
render  effectual  assistance  to  each  other.  At  this  time  (from  1800  to 
1803)  there  was  much  excitement  regarding  the  great  mineral  region  in 
southern  Missouri ;  and  so  as  to  locate  their  grants  upon  what  was  thought 
to  be  the  most  profitable  part  of  the  royal  domain,  the  inhabitants,  insti- 
gated by  cupidity,  often  fell  victims  to  the  tomahawk  and  rifle  of  the 
savages,  whilst  straying  too  remote  from  the  settlements. 

After  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  for  the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  Napo- 
leon gave  utterance  to  these  remarkable  words,  in  conversation  to  one  of 
his  ministers:  "This  accession  of  territory  strengthens  forever  the  power 
of  the  United  States;  and  1  have  given  to  England  a  maritime  rival,  that 
Avill  sooner  or  later  humble  her  pride." 

To  this  treaty  the  Spanish  government  at  first  protested,  saying  that 
France  had  no  right  to  retrocede  the  province  which  she  had  so  recently 
acquired,  and  which  had  been  ceded  to  her  with  the  condition  that  she 
should  not  again  dispose  of  it.  However,  this  puerile  demonstration  was 
disregarded  both  by  France  and  the  United  States,  and  on  the  20th  of 
December,  1803,  M.  Laussat,  the  French  commissioner,  delivered  the 
province  of  Louisiana  and  its  dependencies  to  Governor  Claibourne  and 
General  Wilkinson,  commissioners  of  the  United  States. 

Though  this  public  surrender  of  the  province  of  Louisiana  comprised  all 
of  the  territory  and  every  locality,  and  at  once  gave  the  United  States  a 
recognized  dominion  over  it;  yet  it  was  thought  proper  that  a  formal  sur- 
render should  be  made  of  the  province  of  Upper  Louisiana,  of  which  St. 
Louis  was  the  capital  and  the  residence  of  the  Spanish  lieutenant-governors, 
as  it  was  such  a  vast  distance  from  New  Orleans,  which  was  the  capital 
of  the  province  and  where  the  transfer  had  been  effected.  For  this  pur- 
pose, Major  Stoddard,  an  officer  in  the  American  service,  an  accomplished 
scholar,  and  who  wrote  a  most  reliable  history  of  Louisiana,  was  appointed 
commissioner  of  the  French  government,  and  on  the  9th  of  March,  1804, 
received  the  transfer  from  Charles  Dehault  Delassus,  the  Spanish  com- 
mandant ;  on  the  next  day  he  transferred  it  to  the  United  States. 9 

When  it  became  known  in  St.  Louis  that  the  United  States  had  pur- 
chased Louisiana,  the  spirit  of  speculation,  already  so  rife,  received  a  new 
impulse,  and  the  house  of  the  Spanish  commandant  was  besieged  by  a 
crowd  of  clamorous  petitioners  eager  for  grants ;  for  it  was  well  known 
that  as  soon  as  the  laws  of  the  United  States  brooded  over  the  western 
banks  of  the  Mississippi,  the  settlers  from  the  eastern  side  would  cross 
over  and  fill  up  the  country,  giving  it  increased  value  and  consequently 
enriching  its  owners.  Delassus  was  liberal  in  his  grants,  a  petition 
scarcely  ever  being  refused. 

The  love  of  liberty  is  inherent  in  all  men,  and  consequently,  when  the 
news  came  to  St.  Louis  that  Louisiana  was  purchased  by  the  United 
States,  the  inhabitants  rejoiced  in  the  change,  although  the  Spanish  laws, 
though  springing  from  a  monarchal  source,  possessed  mildness  almost  at 
variance  with  kingly  power.  The  love  of  wealth  is  also  inseparable  from 
human  existence,  and  the  prospect  of  selling  their  lands  at  vastly  rernu- 


278  THE   GREAT   WEST 


nerative  prices  was  likewise  a  powerful  incentive  to  the  inhabitants  for 
hailing  a  change  of  government  which  would  bring  about  so  desirable  a 
result.  Consequently,  when  the  stars  and  stripes  floated  from  the  govern- 
ment house  of  St.  Louis,  and  Major  Stoddard  was  inducted  into  office, 
the  inhabitants  manifested  every  symptom  of  joy ;  though  they  regretted 
the  change  some  months  afterward,  when  they  found  a  population  was 
gradually  gathering  in  their  midst,  introducing  different  habits  and  cus- 
toms, adopting  another  creed  of  worship,  and  giving  another  direction  to 
political  currents,  which  had  so  long  run  into  fixed  channels.  They  then 
regretted  the  change  that  had  taken  place,  and  often  sighed  for  the  blissful 
days  of  ignorance,  content,  and  comparative  poverty,  which  had  been 
their  lot  under  the  Spanish  domination.10 

The  Anglo-Saxon  immigration  to  St.  Louis  possessed  more  industry,  a 
superior  knowledge  in  agricultural  and  mechanical  pursuits,  and  above 
all,  an  enterprise  and  expansive  views,  which  soon  gave  them  a  controlling 
influence,  and  were  mortifying  to  the  spirit  of  the  native  inhabitants,  who 
were  enabled  to  occupy  only  a  secondary  position.  They  assumed,  at 
once,  the  control  of  affairs,  occupied  the  most  prominent  offices,  and  in 
their  worldly  thrift  far  outstripped  the  French  and  Spaniards,  who  felt 
the  canker-worm  of  envy  gnawing  in  their  bosoms  when  they  saw  the 
city,  which  had  been  founded  by  the  one  and  governed  by  the  other  for 
many  years,  pass  under  the  rule  of  another  race,  and  whose  principles  of 
action  and  social  feeling  bore  no  affinity  to  theirs. 

Upper  Louisiana  extended  south  to  a  place  called  Hope  Encampment, 
situated  nearly  opposite  the  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  and  its  northern  boundary 
is  the  same  as  what  now  limits  in  that  direction  the  territory  of  the 
United  States.  It  was  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  Mississippi,  and  on 
the  west,  it  was  entitled,  by  the  law  of  nations,  to  all  of  the  unclaimed 
country  drained  by  the  rivers  which  emptied  in  the  occupied  portion ; 
which  would  give  its  extent  on  the  west,  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  which 
the  Missouri  had  its  fountain. 

The  population  of  Upper  Louisiana,  at  the  time  of  the  cession  in  1804, 
according  to  Major  Stoddard — who  is  more  to  be  relied  upon  than  any 
other  author  in  that  particular,  as  being  on  the  spot  at  the  time  of  the 
transfer — was  nine  thousand  and  twenty  whites,  and  one  thousand  three 
hundred  and  twenty  blacks.  Education  was  in  a  very  defective  state; 
there  was  no  post-office  in  the  place,  and  no  ferry  across  the  Mississippi. 
Whenever  a  traveller  or  hunter  by  chance  wished  to  cross  the  Mississippi* 
opposite  St.  Louis — as  the  river  was  at  that  time  very  narrow — they  would 
call  over,  and  some  of  the  inhabitants  would  cross  in  their  little  canoes,  or 
boats  of  somewhat  larger  dimensions,  as  the  occasion  might  require. 
Agriculture  was  pursued  but  to  a  limited  extent,  and  though  the  soil  about 
St.  Louis  and  the  contiguous  villages  was  as  fertile  as  was  ever  furrowed 
by  the  ploughshare,  it  was  not  cultivated  to  any  extent,  and  affording  but 
little  more  than  was  necessary  for  bread  ;  peltries  and  lead  being  the  chief 
articles  of  export.  So  deficient  was  St.  Louis,  at  times,  in  the  "staff  of 
life,"  that  the  hunter  coming  from  the  rich  country  of  the  Wabash,  where 
the  lands  were  more  skilfully  cultivated,  gave  it  in  derision  the  humorous 

*  There  had  been  a  ferry  which  had  been  established  by  Captain  Piggot,  but  which, 
at  the  time  of  transfer,  had  stopped. 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  279 

appellation  of  Pain  Court  (shortbread).  Carondelet  for  many  years  went 
by  the  name  of  Vide  Poche  (empty  pocket),  indicative  of  the  poverty  of 
its  inhabitants.10 

The  advent  of  the  Americans  and  the  change  of  government  were  pro- 
pitious for  St.  Louis ;  for  from  that  time  agriculture,  that  firm  basis  of  a 
nation's  wealth,  became  the  leading  vocation  of  the  industrious  immigra- 
tion, and  from  thence  to  the  present  Pain  Court  was  a  misnomer. 

The  extent  of  St.  Louis  at  the  time  of  the  cession  to  the  United  States 
was  very  circumscribed.  There  were  no  buildings  on  Third  Street,  and 
where  the  Planters'  Hotel  now  stands  was  an  enclosed  common,  where 
cattle  belonging  to  the  villagers  grazed.  One  public-house,  newly 
opened  in  the  place,  was  kept  by  Jean  Hortez  on  a  small  scale ;  and  in- 
deed there  was  scarcely  a  necessity  for  any,  for  the  inhabitants  were  so 
hospitable,  that  a  stranger  would  be  received  anywhere  as  one  of  the  family, 
and  without  charge,  had  his  place  at  the  table  and  the  fireside.  As  we  be- 
fore remarked,  there  was  no  post-office ;  all  communications  had  to  be 
made  by  individuals  coming  to,  and  returning  from  the  town  to  the  sec- 
tions of  country  from  whence  they  came  on  a  visit.  Even  between  New 
Orleans,  the  capital  of  the  province,  and  St.  Louis,  there  was  no  established 
mode  of  transmitting  letters  by  government,  and  official  as  well  as  private 
correspondence  was  sent  by  individuals  who  were  visiting  these  places  on 
business.  There  were  gun-boats  belonging  to  government  that  ran  between 
New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis,  but  at  such  long  intervening  periods  that  it 
would  have  been  inconvenient  to  depend  solely  upon  this  mode  of  trans- 
mitting communications.  However,  between  St.  Louis  and  Mackinaw, 
and  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans,  and  the  few  intervening  points,  the  oppor- 
tunities of  transmitting  communications  were  much  more  frequent  than 
other  sections  of  country,  as  the  current  of  commercial  trade  ran  between 
these  villages.  To  the  emigrants  from  Kentucky  and  Ohio,  who  a  year  or 
two  before  the  cession  had  come  to  St.  Louis  in  considerable  numbers,  con- 
tiguous to  the  town,  was  presented  the  greatest  difficulty  in  communicating 
with  their  friends.  They  found  but  little  difficulty  in  hearing  from  those 
they  had  left,  because  there  was  almost  a  continual  stream  of  immigration 
to  the  Spanish  country ;  but  it  was  rarely  that  any  one  returned,  and  it 
was  often  years  before  the  new  settlers  could  send  to  their  friends  any 
account  of  the  country  they  had  adopted  as  their  home. 

The  60,000,000  of  francs  which  the  United  States  paid  for  the  province 
of  Louisiana,  were  given  for  a  large  extent  of  territory,  with  immense  agri- 
cultural and  mineral  resources,  but  almost  entirely  undeveloped.  The 
50,000  inhabitants  which  the  whole  province  contained  were  not  desirable 
residents  of  a  new  country,  and  did  not  possess  the  elements  of  thrift  and 
enterprise  to  make  the  soil  or  the  mines  yield  the  innate  wealth  which 
they  possessed.  They  were  but  little  skilled  either  in  agriculture  or  mining, 
and  the  Indian  trade,  to  which  they  almost  exclusively  devoted  themselves, 
would  soon  have  exhausted  itself,  as  the  deer,  buffalo  and  beaver  would 
become  diminished ;  and  their  supplies  in  that  quarter  being  cut  off,  they 
wauld  have  grown  poorer  as  their  trade  languished,  and  have  never  reached 
any  degree  of  prosperity,  had  not  the  vigor  and  skill  of  the  Anglo-American 
race  been  precipitated  in  the  country  and  given  a  new  direction  and  new 
force  to  the  small  and  sluggish  currents  of  business.  At  the  time  of  the 
cession  the  country  itself  was  an  acquisition,  but  not  the  inhabitants. 


280  THE    GREAT   WEST 


CHAPTER    III. 

French  grants. — Spanish  grants. — Partiality  for  the  lands  containing  lead  ore,  or  where 
saiines  could  be  found. — The  danger  from  Indians  in  working  the  mines  and  salines. — 
The  probability  of  many  fraudulent  claims. — Number  of  houses  in  St.  Louis  at  the 
time  of  the  transfer  of  the  province  of  Louisiana  to  the  United  States. — How  the 
houses  were  built. — Description  of  the  principal  houses  and  public  buildings  in  the 
village  in  1804. — Baptism  of  half-breeds  and  an  Indian  child. — Morals  of  the  men 
and  women. — The  mode  of  determining  disputes. — The  customs,  habits,  and  pleas- 
ures of  the  inhabitants. — Names  of  the  chief  merchants,  traders,  and  tradesmen  at 
the  time  of  the  cession  to  the  United  States. — The  locality  of  the  residences  of  the 
principal  inhabitants. — Prices  of  goods. — Monsieur  Tardif,  and  Ccvreuil. 

As  it  has  been  observed  before,  we  know  of  no  record  which  gave  to 
Louis  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive,  authority  as  commandant  of  St.  Louis,  with 
the  power  of  granting  lands  to  the  inhabitants;  yet  there  is  scarcely  a 
shadow  of  doubt  but  that  he  was  first  sent  by  M.  Aubri,  who,  in  the  early 
part  of  1765,  was  commander  of  the  French  forces  in  Louisiana,  when  M. 
D'Abbadie  was  governor  of  the  province  of  Louisiana,  to  the  post  of  St. 
Louis,  with  the  few  troops  which  he  had  in  charge  at  Fort  de  Chartres, 
when  that  fort  was  delivered  to  the  English.  It  was  not  probably  intended 
at  that  time  that  he  should  exercise  any  other  functions  but  those  usually 
vested  in  the  commandants  of  military  posts ;  but,  as  there  was  need  of 
some  one  in  the  growing  town  who  should  have  the  legal  power  of  appor- 
tioning land,  it  is  not  only  probable,  but  almost  certain,  that  after  the 
death  of  M.  D'Abbadie,  his  successor,  M.  Aubri,  delegated  the  power  to 
M.  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive  to  grant  the  royal  domain.  In  support  of  this 
opinion,  we  see  by  the  archives  a  record  of  an  order  made  by  the  Supreme 
Council  of  Louisiana,  transmitted  to  Lefebre,  who  was  one  of  the  judges 
in  Upper  Louisiana,  and  Labuxiere,  who  was,  at  that  time,  the  king's 
solicitor,  for  the  sale  of  the  effects  of  an  absconding  debtor,  by  the  name 
of  Legrange,  who  had  property  in  St.  Genevieve.  This  order  to  the  judge 
and  king's  solicitor,  after  describing  to  them  minutely  their  powers  rela- 
tive to  the  disposal  of  the  property,  and  how  and  to  whom  the  proceeds 
should  be  transmitted  at  New  Orleans,  tells  them  that  M.  Aubri,  the 
governor,  had  sent  private  instructions  to  M.  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive,  the 
commandant  of  the  post  of  St.  Louis,  to  aid  them  if  necessary  in  the  exe- 
cution of  the  process.  This  shows  that  the  governor  of  Louisiana  recog- 
nized the  authority  of  the  commandant  of  St.  Louis,  and  was  in  the  habit 
of  instructing  him  in  his  duties. 

When  Piernas  took  possession  of  the  post  of  St.  Louis,  as  the  delegated 
officer  of  the  Spanish  crown,  he  confirmed  all  of  the  grants  made  by  St. 
Ange  de  Bellerive,  which  gave  a  legality  to  the  grants,  which  were  before 
of  equivocal  tenure.  A  surveyor  having  been  appointed  immediately 
that  he  was  inducted  into  office,  whose  duty  it  was  to  assign  the  lands  to 
the  petitioners,  from  an  order  of  the  lieutenant-governor,  there  arose  a 


AND    HER   COMMERCIAL    METROPOLIS.  281 

system  connected  with  the  granting  of  lands,  which  made  almost  impos- 
sible the  occurrence  of  conflicting  claims. 

By  the  provincial  laws,  after  a  grant  had  been  obtained  by  the  lieutenant- 
governor,  the  title  was  not  deemed  complete  until  it  had  been  confirmed 
by  the  governor  of  the  province  at  New  Orleans ;  yet  so  great  was  the 
expense,  time  and  difficulty  of  getting  to  the  capital,  that  few  of  the  titles 
were  confirmed,  and  the  inhabitants  remained  perfectly  satisfied  with  the 
naked  grants  made  by  the  lieutenant-governors,  and  sold  and  conveyed 
their  lands  with  the  same  readiness  as  if  the  original  grants  had  been 
sanctioned  by  the  supreme  power  in  New  Orleans.  Indeed,  it  would  have 
been  impossible  for  one-half  of  the  inhabitants  to  have  had  their  titles 
confirmed  by  the  governor,  as  they  had  not  the  means  to  go  to  the  capital 
of  the  province,  more  than  a  thousand  miles  distant;  and  the  time  of 
going  from  St.  Louis  to  that  place  and  again  returning,  occupied  the  best 
part  of  a  year.  All  appeared  to  feel  that  the  grants,  as  made  by  the 
lieutenant-governors,  were  all-sufficient;  and  the  decisions,  many  years 
afterward,  by  the  commissioners  of  the  United  States  and  the  courts, 
went  to  show  that  grants  were  deemed  completely  and  legally  full  when 
proceeding  from  the  lieutenant-governors,  even  without  the  sanction  of  the 
governor. 

Lands  were  only  granted  upon  petition,  and  the  petitioner  usually 
assigned  a  reason  or  reasons  why  the  grant  should  be  acceded  to ;  such 
as,  he  was  a  resident  at  the  post,  intended  to  live  upon  it,  had  a  family 
of  so  many  children,  had  rendered  the  crown  some  service,  or  something 
that  would  operate  as  a  legal  inducement  upon  the  lieutenant-governor. 
Some  of  the  petitions  specified  the  particular  locality  where  the  petitioners 
wished  their  lands,  and  others  merely  giving  the  quantity,  had  the  power, 
if  the  petition  was  acquiesced  in,  to  select  them  where  they  pleased  on 
the  vacant  lands  of  the  public  domain.  Some  of  the  grants  had  conditions 
annexed  to  them ;  such  as  the  grantees  were  to  make  some  improvements 
on  the  land  in  a  year  and  a  day,  or  intended  to  devote  it  to  some  specific 
purpose ;  and  if  these  conditions  were  not  complied  with  at  the  proper 
time,  the  lands  reverted  to  the  crown.  There  are  some  instances  of  land 
being  granted,  and  afterward  being  reannexed  to  the  public  domain. 
This  rarely  occurred  from  a  non-fulfilment  of  the  conditions  of  the 
grant,  as  it  was  very  easy  for  the  grantee,  at  any  time,  to  get  an  extension 
of  time  if  they  wished  it — but  usually  proceeded  from  the  fact  that  it 
frequently  happened  that  persons  found  it  to  their  interest  not  to  conform 
to  the  conditions  of  the  grants,  from  seeing  some  better  locality  which 
possessed  greater  attractions.  They  preferred  to  forfeit  their  old  grants, 
and  endeavored  to  acquire  possession  of  those  lands  which  they  thought 
were  of  most  value. 

Nearly  at  the  close  of  the  Spanish  domination,  the  lands  most  sought 
for  were  those  the  most  richly  impregnated  with  minerals;  and  all  the 
broken  wilds  where  lead  was  known  to  exist  in  the  greatest  plenty,  were 
eagerly  sought  after,  and  many  thousands  of  acres  were  frequently  granted 
to  one  individual,  covering  immense  mineral  riches,  which  being  situated 
at  a  distance  from  the  rivers,  and  in  the  almost  impassable  solitudes  of 
the  mountains,  were  worked  to  but  small  extent,  and  for  the  want  of  the 
proper  means  of  transportation  could  not  be  developed  to  one  tithe  of 
their  value.  Next  to  peltry,  lead  was  the  chief  article  of  value  in  St.  Louis. 


282  THE   GREAT   WEST 


Salt  was  also  of  ranch  importance  as  an  article  of  consumption  and 
commerce,  and  consequently  the  lands  on  which  could  be  formed  salines 
were  in  much  demand,  and  soon  became  severed  from  the  public  domain, 
and  were  appropriated  to  individual  possession.  The  lead  mines  and  the 
salines  were  extensively  worked,  and  though  in  so  rough  and  unskilful  a 
manner  that  it  approached  to  savage  awkwardness  and  ignorance,  still 
considerable  profits  accrued,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  inhabitants  were 
engaged  in  these  pursuits.  Whenever  a  mine  or  a  saline  was  to  be 
worked,  a  small  party,  composed  of  Frenchmen  and  Spaniards,  and  many 
half-breeds  and  Indians,  degraded  by  drink,  all  under  the  direction  of  one 
or  two  leaders,  would  start,  with  but  little  preparation,  to  probably  a  re- 
mote point  of  fifty  or  a  hundred  miles  from  St.  Louis,  carrying  with  them 
some  few  rough  implements  with  which  to  work,  and  armed  with  their 
rifles  and  knives,  with  a  few  sacks  of  ground  maize,  would  take  their 
course  through  the  wilderness,  and  by  a  skill  made  perfect  by  necessity, 
without  a  path  or  track  would  arrive  at  their  place  of  destination,  and 
erecting  a  shelter  of  poles,  covered  with  grass  and  forest  leaves,  and  some- 
times partially  cemented  with  clay,  would  form  their  mode  of  action  and 
commence  their  operations  under  the  direction  of  a  leader,  who  was  the 
chief  personage  of  the  expedition,  and  to  whom  the  labor  of  the  others 
was  due  for  a  compensation.  These  parties  had  to  depend  solely  on 
themselves  for  defence,  and  were  often  cut  off  to  a  man  by  large  maraud- 
ing parties  of  savage  Indians,  who  would  discover  their  rendezvous,  and 
by  stratagem  and  force  would  effect  their  destruction.  The  bodies  of 
many  brave  and  manly  spirits  in  this  manner  have  been  bereft  of  their 
lives  by  the  savages,  and  left  to  fester  unburied  in  the  wild  solitudes  in 
which  they  had  undertaken  to  lay  the  first  landmarks  of  civilization.* 


*  Major  Stoddard,  in  his  invaluable  History  of  Louisiana,  thus  speaks  of  the  lead 
mines  of  the  province  of  Louisiana  at  an  early  period,  and  the  manner  in  which  they 
were  worked: — 

"  Such  indeed  is  the  quantity  of  mineral  lead,  that  very  little  care  is  taken  in  the 
manufacture  of  it.  It  is  the  opinion  of  many,  that  regular  machinery  for  the  purpose 
is  useless,  and  that  the  quar  tity  of  lead  saved  by  it  ould  never  defray  the  expenses 
of  it.  They  usually  place  the  mineral  on  a  confused  heap  of  burning  log?,  and  other 
wood,  and  in  this  way  smelt  it.  The  iead  is  precipitated  among  the  ashes  and  dirt, 
where  no  small  proportion  of  it  is  lost.  Notwithstanding  this  singular  and  awkward 
process,  the  manufacturers  are  satisfied  with  the  profits  it  yields  them,  and  consider 
machinery  as  an  injury  ratber  than  a  benefit. 

"  This  inattention  to  the  regular  manufacture  of  lead  arises  in  part  from  the  poverty 
of  the  manufacturers,  who  are  not  able  to  pursue  an  expensive  process,  but  much 
more  from  the  great  quantity  of  minera'1,  the  little  labor  required  to  obtain  it,  and  the 
prolific  nature  of  it.  On  account  of  the  water,  the  mineral  is  usually  taken  from  the 
ground  between  the  first  of  August  and  the  last  of  November;  and  during  this  period 
a  great  number  of  laborers,  sometimes  as  many  as  three  hundred,  resort  to  the  mines 
in  the  neighborhood  of  St.  Genevieve.  They  dig  and  dispose  of  the  mineral,  and  re- 
ceive in  payment  goods  and  other  articles  for  the  support  of  their  families.  Some  of 
them  have  been  known  to  earn  thirty  dollars  per  day  for  several  successive  weeks ; 
but  such  occurrences  are  rare,  and  never  happen,  unless  the  laborers  are  so  lucky  as 
to  find  veins  of  mineral  of  considerable  size  and  extent ;  though  the  profits  of  procuring 
that  article  are  undoubtedly  grent. 

"  The  dealers  in  lead,  who  were  also  in  most  instances  the  manufacturers  of  it, 
generally  adopt  two  methods  to  obtain  the  mineral;  they  either  purchase  it,  or  hire 
laborers  to  dig  it  'for  them.  The  details  of  this  pursuit  were  furnished  the  author  of 


CHURCH  OF  THE  MESSIAH  (UNITARIAN). 

Olive  Street,  corner  of  9th  Street. 
REV.  WM.  G.  ELIOT,  D.  D.  Pastor. 


CONCORDIA  COLLEGE. 
Carondelet  Road,  south  of  the  Arsenal. 

REV.  C.  T.  "W.  WALTHER,  President.  PROFESSOR  SEIPERT. 

PROFESSOR  SACHSE,  Treasurer. 


GRAHAM  &  NEWMAN'S  NEW  MARBLE  BUILDING. 
Olive  Street,  near  3d  Street. 


BANK  OF  ST.  LOUIS. 

J.  J.  ANDERSON,  President. 
D.  C.  VAN  ARMAN,  Cashier. 


CUSTOM  HOUSE  AND  POST  OFFICE. 

JOHN  HOGAN,  Postmaster. 
DANIEL  DONOVAN,  Collector. 
ISAAC  H.  STURGEON,  Sub-Treasurer. 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  283 

The  love  of  gain,  though  always  regarded  as  an  infirmity  of  human 
nature,  and  certainly  springing  from  purely  selfish  sources,  yet,  weakness  as 
it  is,  is  a  most  powerful  incentive  to  human  exertion,  and  is  productive 
of  the  happiest  results.  For  gain,  the  enterprising  merchant  seeks  unknown 
shores  and  climes  pregnant  with  the  breath  of  death,  which  in  pestilential 
vapors  floats  through  the  atmosphere,  and  where  danger  lurks  in  a  thou- 
sand other  forms  incident  to  the  stranger  when  in  a  savage  land — where 
the  amenities  of  life  are  unknown,  and  where  war,  rapine,  and  murder 
are  regarded  in  the  light  of  virtues  by  the  inhabitants.  Gain,  more  than 
a  love  of  glory,  led  to  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  River ;  gain  induced 
the  governor  of  Canada  to  procure  the  services  of  the  holy  Marquette  to 
seek  the  upper  waters  of  the  great  river ;  gain  influenced  La  Salle  to 
attempt  the  colonization  of  the  most  fertile  valley  on  the  globe ;  and  gain 

these  sketches  in  1803,  by  the  owner  of  a  mine  in  the  district  of  St.  Genevieve,  and 
they  stand  thus :  Were  he  to  hire  twenty -five  men  to  dig  mineral  during  the  four 
months  already  mentioned,  they  would  furnish  about  two  hundred  thousand  weight ; 
and  as  it  yields  seventy  per  centum,  the  produce  of  the  whole  would  bo  one  hundred 
and  forty  thousand  pounds  for  the  market.  The  wages  and  food  of  twenty-five  labor- 
ers for  the  above  time,  and  the  expenses  of  transporting  the  lead  from  the  mines  to 
New  Orleans,  would  amount  to  three  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty  dollars ;  and 
were  it  to  sell  in  market  for  nine  dollars  per  hundred,  tho  proceeds  would  amount  to 
twelve  thousand  six  hundred  dollars ;  so  that,  after  deducting  the  expenses,  the  sum 
of  eight  thousand  nine  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  would  be  left  for  the  proprietor  or 
dealer,  which  may  be  considered  as  the  net  profits.  These,  however,  wholly  depend 
on  the  price  in  market,  which  varies  according  as  commerce  fluctuates,  or  as  war  or 
peace  prevails  in  Europe.  In  time  of  peace,  lead  seldom  sells  for  more  than  six  dollars 
per  hundred ;  during  a  European  war  it  sometimes  rises  to  twelve  dollars,  though 
the  average  price  in  market  may  be  stated  at  nine  dollars.  These  dealers  in  lead,  who 
receive  mineral  in  exchange  for  goods,  are  supposed  to  make  the  greatest  profits. 
They  fix  themselves  about  the  mines,  and  purchase  the  mineral  of  the  laborers  at  two 
dollars  per  hundred,  and  make  their  payments  in  merchandise  at  an  enormous  advance. 
They  smelt  the  mineral,  and  carry  the  lead  to  market ;  and  as  they  are  not  obliged  to 
deal  on  credit,  the  profits  of  this  barter  trade  aro  very  considerable. 

"  The  proprietor  to  whom  we  have  just  alluded,  planted  himself  among  the  lead 
mines  in  1797,  and  obtained  from  the  Spanish  government  a  grant  of  a  league  square 
of  land,  most  of  which  is  impregnated  with  mineral.  He  is  the  owner  of  the  only 
regular  machinery  in  the  country  for  making  lead.  He  manufactures  bar  and  sheet 
lead,  as  also  great  quantities  of  ball  and  shot.  But  it  is  doubted  by  some  whether  the 
more  simple  and  awkward  mode  of  manufacturing  lead  as  practised  by  the  itinerant 
pursuers  of  this  metal  is  not  equally  profitable ;  •  especially  as  they  smelt  the  mineral 
on  the  ground  where  they  obtain  it,  and  are  not  at  tho  trouble  and  expense  of  removing 
it  to  a  distance  for  this  operation. 

"  The  richest  mineral  known  in  the  country  is  procured  from  two  mines  situated 
on  the  west  bank  ot  the  Mississippi,  nearly  five  hundred  miles  above  the  mouth  of 
the  Missouri,  which  were  opened  some  years  ago  by  a  Frenchman :  one  of  them  yields 
eighty-four,  and  the  other  ninety-two  pounds  of  pure  lead  to  each  hundred  weight  of 
mineral ;  though,  from  the  manner  of  smelting,  no  more  than  seventy-five  are  actually 
realized.  The  owner  covered  these,  as  well  as  other  mines,  in  1796,  by  a  complete 
grant  from  the  Spanish  government,  embracing  a  tract  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine 
thousand  three  hundred  and  forty-four  arpents,  now  recognized  as  valid  by  the  laws 
of  the  United  States.  The  mineral  is  found  here,  as  in  other  places,  in  veins,  but 
these  generally  descend  at  an  angle  of  about  thirty-four  degrees.  Two  of  them  have 
been  pursued  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  beneath  the  base  of  a  steep  hill.  At 
their  extremity,  in  summer,  the  air  moves  with  such  rapidity,  that  a  candle  cannot  be 
kept  lighted,  and  is  at  the  same  time  so  cold  as  to  prove  uncomfortable  to  the  work- 
men ;  but  in  winter  a  considerable  degree  of  heat  prevails,  and  a  small  portion  of  air 
only  is  fonnd  to  be  hi  circulation." 
11 


284  THE   GREAT    WEST 


prompted  the  discovery  of  the  site  and  founding  of  the  "  Great  Metropolis 
of  the  West." 

Though  parties  who  went  to  work  the  distant  salines  and  the  mines 
were  continually  harassed,  and  frequently  entirely  destroyed  by  the  In- 
dians, yet  the  profits  attendant  upon  the  lead  and  salt  business  were  so 
seductive,  that  others,  animated  by  the  same  motives,  were  found  ready 
to  encounter  the  same  obstacles  and  dangers.  It  was  probably  owing  to 
the  dangers  that  were  incidental  to  working  the  mines  and  the  salines, 
that  the  lieutenant-governors  made  without  hesitation  such  large  grants 
in  the  wilds  where  the  lead  and  salt  were  to  be  found.  In  the  neighbor- 
hood of  St.  Louis  it  was  only  the  wealthy  who  obtained  large  grants,  as 
it  was  thought  by  the  lieutenant-governors  that  they  possessed  the  most 
ample  means  to  improve  them — at  least  such  was  the  reason  alleged  for 
the  extensive  grants. 

As  has  been  observed,  most  of  the  grants  made  by  the  lieutenant- 
governors  were  deemed  by  the  inhabitants  sufficiently  complete  without 
having  them  confirmed  by  the  governor  at  New  Orleans;  yet,  just  pre- 
vious to  the  actual  transfer  of  Louisiana  to  the  United  States,  a  panic 
pervaded  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  that  their  grants,  and  the  transfer 
of  their  grants,  not  confirmed  by  the  supreme  executive  officer,  were 
worthless,  and  many  hundreds  and  thousands  of  acres  were  sold  for  almost 
nothing  by  those  whose  titles  had  not  been  completely  perfected.  It  is 
thought  that  some  of  the  most  wealthy  and  speculative  of  the  inhabitants 
of  St.  Louis  originated  the  panic,  that  they  might  purchase  the  claims  for 
a  mere  trifle.  It  is  certain  that  the  claims  were  principally  purchased  by 
those  who  were  the  chief  instigators  of  the  panic.  It  is  also  certain  that 
many  of  the  claims  originating  but  a  short  time  previous  to  the  transfer, 
were  fraudulent ;  some  of  them  were  so  pronounced  by  the  commissioners 
appointed  by  the  United  States  some  years  afterward,  and  there  were 
many  that  were  fraudulent  that  were  pronounced  good,  owing  to  the 
liberal  constructions  placed  upon  claims  by  the  commissioners,  who  acted 
upon  the  liberal  and  legal  principle,  that  every  claim  was  good  unless  mani- 
fest fraud  appeared.  However,  many  of  these  old  claims  were  subjects 
of  legal  litigation,  and  for  many  years  afforded  a  fine  harvest-field  for 
lawyers,  and  swelled  the  dockets  in  the  court-house.  Even  now,  some  of 
them  are  surrounded  by  legal  trammels,  and  have  run  divers  times  the 
cycles  of  the  various  courts,  without  any  prospect  of  a  termination. 

It  was  during  the  administration  of  the  last  two  lieutenant-governors, 
that  the  grants  of  land  became  much  more  frequent  and  extensive.  Pre- 
vious to  their  time,  it  was  granted  in  much  smaller  quantities,  and  one  of 
the  fundamental  conditions  of  procuring  the  grant  was,  that  the  petitioner 
should  be  a  Catholic.  Under  the  last  commandants,  though  the  last  con- 
dition remained  in  force  on  the  books,  it  was  not  enforced  in  practice, 
and  the  religious  creed  of  the  grantees  was  seldom  inquired  into,  as  it 
was  the  wish  of  the  Spanish  government  to  allure  within  its  domains  as 
many  Anglo-Americans  as  possible,  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  agricul- 
tural products. 

At  the  time  of  the  cession  to  the  United  States,  St.  Louis,  according  to 
Major  Stoddard,  contained  one  hundred  and  eighty  houses,  which  were 
nearly  all  built  of  hewn  logs,  set  up  on  end,  and  on  the  square  a  roof  was 
formed  and  covered  with  shingles ;  on  some  houses  the  shingles  were 


AND    HER    COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  285 

fastened  to  the  scantling  with  wooden  pegs,  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  nails. 
Some  of  the  houses  of  the  more  wealthy  and  tasteful  inhabitants  were 
built  of  stone,  with  a  large  stone  wall  encompassing  them  and  the  gardens 
with  which  they  were  connected.  These  houses  were  of  but  one  story, 
low  pitched,  with  a  porch  the  full  length  of  the  building,  and  frequently 
a  piazza  in  the  rear.  Most  of  the  town  was  situated  on  what  are  now 
known  as  Main  and  Second  streets,  and  the  main  buildings  were  the 
Government  House,  situated  on  Main  street,  corner  of  Walnut,  extending 
toward  the  river,  and  south  of  the  public  square  known  as  La  Place 
<f  armes;  the  house  of  Madame  Chouteau,  on  the  square  between  Main 
and  Second  and  Chesnut  and  Market  streets;  the  "Old  Chouteau  Man- 
sion," being  a  part  of  the  first  house  built  in  St.  Louis,  and  situated  on 
the  block  between  Main  and  Second,  and  Market  and  Walnut  streets; 
and  the  fort  which  was  called  St.  Charles,  situated  between  Fourth  and 
Fifth  streets,  and  Walnut  and  Elm.  In  this  fort  the  Spanish  garrison 
had  their  quarters,  and  it  was  commenced  in  the  early  part  of  the  spring 
of  1780,  as  the  register  in  the  Catholic  church  contains  an  account  of  the 
ceremony  of  "  blessing  the  first  stone."  The  nucleus  of  the  fort  was  the 
tower — a  stone  fortress  reared  in  the  shape  of  a  tower — which  had  numer- 
ous port-holes,  and  was  probably  built  during  the  administration  of  Louis 
St.  Ange  de  Bellerive,  and  for  many  years  was  used  as  a  prison  by  the 
American  government — the  debtors  being  confined  in  the  apartment 
above,  and  the  criminals  below.  At  the  attack  of  the  Indians  in  1780, 
the  tower  was  the  only  available  fortress ;  the  other  defences  were  in  an 
incomplete  state. 

Many  of  the  male  inhabitants  were  married  to  Indian  squaws,  or  lived 
with  them  in  unseemly  relations  of  intimacy.  In  the  register  of  the  Catho- 
lic church  we  see  where  eight  children  of  a  certain  Jean  Cardinal  and 
Marianne,  his  Indian  wife,  were  baptized  at  once ;  this  same  Frenchman 
was  killed  by  the  Indians  in  their  attack  upon  the  town  in  1780,  as 
stated  in  a  previous  part  of  this  work.  There  are  numerous  baptisms  of 
children  whose  mothers  were  squaws,  and  who  had  become  the  wives  or 
mistresses  of  white  men.  This  old  and  invaluable  record  book  contains 
also  the  following  baptism,  which  we  have  literally  translated,  and  given 
in  full  to  the  reader : — 

"In  the  year  1794,  the  13th  of  April,  Peter  Joseph  Didier,  religious 
Benedictine  priest  of  the  congregation  of  St.  Maur,  has  baptized  Therese 
Victor!,  of  Indian  origin,  of  the  nation  of  the  Penis,  about  five  years  of 
age.  The  godfather  has  been  'M.  Zenon  Trudeau,  captain  commandant 
of  the  appointed  regiment  of  Louisiana,  and  lieutenant-governor  of  the 
western  part  of  Illinois.  The  godmother,  Mary  Genevievc  de  la  Marche, 
religious  superior  of  the  Ladies  of  St.  Claire  de  Tour,  who  have  signed 
this  present  with  us  the  day  and  year  above." 

This  baptismal  record  not  only  shows  the  honor  bestowed  upon  the 
Indian  child  by  the  high  standing  of  its  godfather  and  godmother,  but  gives 
us  undoubted  evidence  that  St.  Louis  was  visited  by  some  of  the  religious 
refugees  of  high  quality  in  France,  who  were  compelled,  during  the 
stormy'  period  of  the  Revolution,  to  forsake  their  monasteries,  and  take 
shelter  in  foreign  countries.  The  godmother  in  the  aforesaid  baptism  was 
one  high  in  authority  in  one  branch  of  her  creed,  and  doubtless  received 
the  homage  incidental  to  her  rank  while  at  St.  Louis. 


286  THE   GREAT   WEST 


When  the  Spanish  domination  ceased,  there  was  but  one  church  in  St. 
Louis,  and  that  was  of  the  Catholic  persuasion.  This  church  was  built 
at  the  closing  of  the  French  domination  in  1780,  and  which  we  have 
described  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  work.  There  were  many  of  the 
inhabitants,  it  is  true,  of  different  sects,  yet  they  had  carefully  concealed 
their  religious  proclivities,  and  had  no  place  of  worship,  as  the  Catholic 
creed  alone  was  tolerated  under  the  Spanish  government. 

During  the  French  and  Spanish  dominations,  the  higher  order  of  crimes 
were  very  rare  in  St.  L^uis,  and  though  there  was  rather  a  liberality  in 
their  morals,  yet  there  were  none  of  those  demoniac  outbursts  of  human 
passions,  which  often  appal  us  under  other  governments  and  in  a  more 
advanced  stage  of  civilization.  There  were  no  instances  of  assassination, 
and  but  one  of  manslaughter — a  soldier  killing  one  of  his  comrades  at  the 
garrison — and  even  larcenies  were  unknown.  The  most  immoral  features 
that  were  reprehensible  in  the  early  inhabitants  were  their  liaisons. 
These  were  looked  upon  in  a  charitable  manner,  nor  affected  to  any  de- 
gree the  social  standing  of  the  party.  This  is  only  applicable  to  the  male 
sex  ;  the  standard  of  virtue  in  the  female  sex  was  as  high  as  at  the  present 
time ;  and  though  the  man  could  deviate  with  impunity  from  a  chaste 
life,  yet  the  woman  who  did  not  preserve  sacred  her  vestal  and  marital 
relations,  was  at  once  socially  ostracized.  In  the  archives  we  find  where 
a  man  and  wife  jointly  made  a  will,  professing  toward  each  other  the 
most  endearing  relations,  and  requesting  their  executors  to  let  the  graves 
of  both  be  as  near  as  possible  after  death,  as  significant  of  the  loving 
union  that  had  always  subsisted  during  life.  In  the  next  clause,  the  hus- 
band goes  on  to  say  that  he  bequeathed  "five  thousand  livres  to  Marie, 
his  illegitimate  daughter."  If  a  husband  strayed  from  the  connubial 
orbit  for  other  attractions,  he  was  forgiven,  on  the  score  of  human 
infirmity. 

Among  the  inhabitants,  the  most  cordial  relations  subsisted :  enmity 
was  rare  among  them,  and  a  brotherly  feeling  appeared  to  unite  them  in 
a  family.  There  was  seldom  any  legal  litigation,  for  it  was  a  custom 
among  the  inhabitants,  in  almost  all  cases,  where  there  was  a  difference  of 
opinion  which  would  lead  to  legal  controversy,  for  the  parties  to  submit 
to  arbitration,  and  in  this  reasonable  way  end  a  dispute,  which,  if  it  once 
became  involved  in  the  meshes  of  the  law,  would  have  been  protracted 
with  expense,  and  kept  the  parties  in  continual  torture  until  determined; 
all  the  time  attended  with  a  thousand  vexations,  and  increasing  the  un- 
friendly relations. 

The  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis,  during  the  French  and  Spanish  domina- 
tions, though  cut  off  by  the  remote  position  of  their  town  from  the 
enjoyment  of  what  are  termed  the  luxuries  of  life,  were  nevertheless, 
probably,  the  happiest  people  in  the  world.  The  little  village  was  too 
small  for  society  to  form  itself  into  clans,  each  with  their  array  of  vanity 
and  paltry  ambition,  but  the  whole  village  was  on  a  level  in  the  social 
scale,  and  the  inhabitants  would  gather  around  each  other's  firesides,  like 
one  family,  undisturbed  by  the  trivial  niceties  of  etiquette,  conscious  that 
the  glance  and  the  voice  which  welcomed  them  took  their  warmth  and 
their  tone  from  hearts  that  were  throbbing  with  the  most  friendly  emo- 
tions. They  were  not  an  industrious  people ;  they  occupied  themselves 
only  sufficiently  to  procure  a  bare  comfortable  subsistence,  and  then, 


AND   HEE   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  28 7 

during  the  afternoons  and  evenings,  there  were  continual  interchanges  of 
visits. 

The  French  are  proverbial  for  their  good  humor,  their  gayety,  and  that 
innate  philosophy  which  prompts  them,  at  all  times,  to  be  as  happy  as 
possible,  under  all  circumstances.  The  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  possessed 
all  of  these  national  characteristics  in  their  greatest  degree,  somewhat 
increased  from  their  isolated  position,  which  had  a  tendency  to  draw  them 
closer  together,  and  the  total  absence  of  all  adventitious  modes  of  pleasure, 
and  their  perfect  dependence  upon  each  other  in  that  respect  for  enjoy- 
ment. During  the  summer  afternoon  they  could  be  seen  in  groups 
beneath  the  shade  of  some  tree,  or  perhaps  sitting  upon  the  bluff  banks 
of  the  river,  when  the  hill  above  the  town  had  intercepted  the  rays  of  the 
sun,  before  his  descent  in  the  waves  and  coral  reefs  of  ocean ;  or  perhaps 
some,  more  venturesome,  would  glide  with  the  suppleness  of  youth  and 
spirit  down  the  bluff  banks,  and  would  seat  themselves  on  the  rocks 
which  at  that  time,  at  low-water  mark,  rose  prominently  from  the  bed  of 
the  "  Father  of  Waters,"  along  the  shore,  laughing  at  their  own  antics 
and  activity,  and  exciting  the  attention,  and  contributing  to  the  enjoyment 
of  their  friends,  who  were  spectators  of  their  exploits.  Some  of  the  old 
would  gather  frequently  together  on  the  long  piazzas,  which  were  fre- 
quently in  both  front  and  rear  of  the  one-story  dwellings  of  the  wealthier 
of  the  inhabitants — and  in  a  universal  conversation,  in  which  all  played 
their  part,  and  all  enjoyed;  and  permitting  not  for  a  moment  any  care  or 
subject  to  intrude,  which  would  damp  the  warm  and  genial  feelings  always 
prevalent  in  their  social  circles. 

Though  education  was  limited — and  indeed  so  meagre  even  among  the 
very  few  who  made  any  pretension  to  book  information — still  the  little 
village  had  its  romance  and  its  music,  its  traditionary  narratives,  and  the 
poetry  of  feeling  which  wakes  in  the  heart  of  youth  when  touched  by  the 
powerful  talisman  of  love.  The'lover  would  woo  his  mistress  in  the  plain 
language  of  truth,  and  in  humble  attire,  and,  without  the  aid  of  guitar  and 
verse,  would  enjoy  in  sober  sweetness  the  brief  scenes  of  courtship ;  and 
when  the  holy  father  would  make  them  one,  and  gave  them  his  blessing, 
they  would  retire  to  their  humble  cabins  and  commence  their  new  life 
with  as  much  prospect  of  happiness  as  though  wealth  and  intelligence  had 
been  their  lot. 

Dancing  was  the  favorite  amusement  of  the  inhabitants,  and  they  fre- 
quently had  their  social  meetings.  At  whosoever's  house  the  meeting 
was  going  to  be,  all  of  the  neighbors  would  contribute  something  to  the 
feast  which  would  be  spread  out  for  the  occasion.  Some  would  contribute 
sugar,  some  coffee  (there  was -no  tea  at  that  time),  some  chickens,  some 
one  thing  and  some  another,  all  what  they  had  to  spare,  and  in  this  man- 
ner made  up  the  banquet.  It  was  almost  impossible,  during  the  infancy 
of  St.  Louis,  during  the  French  domination,  for  but  a  few — and  very  few — 
of  the  inhabitants  to  have  such  a  sufficiency  of  the  necessaries  of  life  as 
would  enable  them  to  entertain  at  their  own  expense  any  great  number  of 
their  friends,  and  hence  the  custom  which  necessity  originated  of  a  general 
contribution  for  furnishing  the  repast  whenever  there  was  to  be  a  social 
gathering.  The  only  music  was  the  violin,  and  the  dances  chiefly  in 
vogue  were  minuets  and  the  various  kinds  of  quadrille.  Madame  Ortes 
informs  us  that  waltzes  were  then  entirely  unknown,  and  not  until  late 


288  THE    GREAT    WEST 


during  the  Spanish  domination  did  she  ever  see  one ;  the  first  one  who 
introduced  it  into  St.  Louis  was  Mr.  Rene  Paul,  a  respectable  trader  and 
merchant  of  St.  Louis,  and  who  frequently,  when  the  country  was  ceded 
to  the  United  States,  officiated  as  interpreter  for  the  officers  of  govern- 
ment when  treating  with  the  Indians,  as  frequent  intercourse  had  made 
him  familiar  with  their  language.  The  French  love  society  and  conviv- 
iality, and  consequently  these  festive  scenes  were  frequent. 

As  St.  Louis  grew  in  years,  the  inhabitants  grew  in  wealth,  and  most 
of  them  had  the  comforts  of  life  in  profusion,  and  soon  could  supply  their 
houses  with  all  that  was  necessary  to  entertain  their  friends,  and  then 
these  general  contributions  ceased  at  their  festive  gatherings. 

A  few  years  after  the  Spanish  domination  commenced,  though  the 
gatherings  were  as  frequent  as  ever,  yet  general  contribution  at  these 
entertainments  had  altogether  ceased,  and  the  expense  was  borne  exclu- 
sively by  the  individuals  at  whose  houses  the  parties  were  held. 

The  customs  and  habits  of  the  people  of  St.  Louis  after  the  transfer 
from  the  French  to  the  Spanish  government,  underwent  no  change,  except 
in  some  few  immaterial  respects,  produced  by  the  operation  of  new  laws; 
for,  but  few  Spanish  families  immigrated  to  the  country,  and  those  few 
were  mostly  connected  with  French  families,  and  adopted  their  peculiar 
modes  of  life. 

During  the  Spanish  domination,  whenever  there  was  an  entertainment, 
it  was  a  municipal  rule  that  a  sentinel  should  be  upon  the  spot,  whose 
province  it  was  to  conduct  to  the  calaboose  any  who  raised  any  disturb- 
ance by  gratifying  belligerent  propensities,  or  from  too  deeply  imbibing 
of  spirituous  potations  behaved  in  so  noisy  a  manner  as  annoyed  the  com- 
pany. At  these  banquets,  the  greatest  deference  was  paid  to  the  aged, 
and  care  was  taken  that  they  should  be  seated  at  the  first  table,  when, 
from  the  number  of  guests  invited,  it  was  impossible  for  them  all  to  be 
seated  at  one  time. 

At  the  time  of  the  transfer  of  the  province  of  Louisiana  to  the  United 
States,  there  was  but  one  baker  in  the  town,  by  the  name  of  Le  Clerc, 
who  baked  for  the  garrison,  and  who  lived  in  Main  street,  between  what 
is  now  known  as  Elm  and  Walnut.  There  were  three  blacksmiths  :  De- 
losier,  who  resided  in  Main  street,  near  Morgan ;  Rencontre,  who  lived 
in  Main,  near  Carr;  and  Valois,  who^resided  in  Main,  near  Elm,  and  did 
the  work  for  the  government.  There  was  but  one  physician,  who  was 
Dr.  Saugrain,  who  practised  many  years  after  the  possession  of  the 
American  government,  and  who  lived  on  Second  street,  and  owned  the 
property  now  occupied  as  the  People's  Garden. 

There  were  but  two  little  French  taverns  in  the  town,  one  kept  by 
Yostic,  and  the  other  by  Landreville,  chiefly  to  accommodate  the  couriers 
dcs  boifs  (hunters)  and  the  voyayeurs  (boatmen)  of  the  Mississippi.  These 
little  taverns,  visited  by  the  brave,  daring,  and  reckless  men  who  lived 
three-fourths  of  the  time  remote  from  civilization,  in  the  wild  solitudes  of 
the  forest  and  rivers,  and  in  constant  intercourse  with  the  savages,  were 
the  very  nurseries  of  legendary  narratives,  where  the  hunters,  the  trap- 
pers, and  the  boatmen,  all  mingling  together  under  the  genial  excitement 
of  convivial  influences,  would  relate  perilous  adventures,  hair-breadth 
escapes ;  death  of  comrades  and  families  by  tjje  tomahawk,  starvation, 
and  at  the  fire-stake;  murder  by  the  pirates  of  the  Grand  Tower  and 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  289 

Cottonwood  Creek ;  captivity  in  the  wilderness  and  the  cave,  and  pro- 
tracted sufferings  in  the  most  agonizing  forms  incident  to  humanity. 
There  is  no  record  of  these  wild  narratives,  which  could  have  been  pre- 
served for  future  times,  had  there  been  a  historian,  who  by  the  embalming 
power  of  genius  would  have  preserved  them  in  an  imperishable  shape  for 
posterity.  Both  of  these  taverns  stood  upon  the  corners  of  Main  and 
Locust  streets. 

The  principal  merchants  and  traders,  at  the  time  of  the  cession  to  the 
United  States,  were,  Auguste  Chquteau,  who  resided  in  Main  street, 
between  Market  and  Walnut ;  Pierre  Chouteau,  who  resided  on  the  cor- 
ner of  Main  and  Washington  Avenue,  and  had  the  whole  square  .encircled 
with  a  stone  wall — he  had  an  orchard  of  choice  fruit,  and  his  house  and 
store  were  in  one  building — the  store  being  the  first  story  and  the  family 
residence  the  second ;  Manuel  Lisa  lived  on  Second  street,  corner  of 
Spruce — a  part  of  the  building  is  now  occupied  as  a  boarding-house; 
Labbadie  &  Sarpy,  in  Main,  between  Pine  and  Chesnut;  Roubidou  lived 
at  the  corner  of  Elm  and  Main — a  part  of  the  house  is  still  standing; 
and  Jaques  Glamorgan,  corner  of  Green  and  Main — the  foundry  of  Gaty, 
McCune  &  Co.  stands  on  part  of  what  was  his  property.  The  Debreuil 
family  occupied  a  whole  square  on  Second  street,  between  Pine  and 
Chestnut. 

It  would  be  too  tedious  thus  to  locate  the  residences  of  each  one  of 
the  merchants  and  traders,  and  we  will  content  ourselves  by  giving  the 
names  of  some  of  the  remaining  merchants  and  principal  inhabitants. 
They  were  as  follows : — Hortez,  Pratte,  Gratiot,  Tayon,  Lecompt,  Papin, 
Cabanne,  Alvarez,  Lebaume  and  Soulard. 

It  must  not  be  understood  by  the  reader,  that  a  merchant  at  that  time 
approximated  at  all  in  his  business  relations  to  the  merchant  of  to-day. 
A  place  occupying  but  a  few  feet  square  would  contain  all  of  their  goods; 
and  indeed,  during  the  period  of  the  first  growth  of  St.  Louis,  a  merchant 
kept  all  of  his  goods  in  a  chest  or  box,  which  was  opened  whenever  a 
purchaser  would  appear.  Sugar,  coffee,  gunpowder,  blankets,  paint,  spice, 
salt,  knives,  hatchets,  guns,  kitchen-ware,  hunting-shirts,  and  every  varie- 
ty of  coarse  dry  goods,  were  stored  together. 

Owing  to  the  tediousness  of  navigation,  the  prices  demanded  for  all 
articles  of  importation  were  enormous.  Sugar  and  coffee  were  each  two 
dollars  per  pound,  and  every  thing  else  in  proportion.  Tea  was  almost 
unknown  until  the  advent  of  the  United  States  government.  Articles 
now  regarded  as  indispensable  to  human  existence,  and  occupying  a  low 
position  in  the  scale  of  human  comfort,  were  then  esteemed  the  greatest 
luxuries,  and  so  expensive  as  to  be  enjoyed  only  on  state  occasions,  and 
then  with  parsimony ;  yet  the  inhabitants  were  happy.  Their  isolated 
position,  their  few  wants,  their  removal  from  temptation  always  lurking 
amid  the  elegancies  and  flowering  attractions  of  civilization,  the  simplicity 
of  their  life — all  conduced  to  serenity  of  mind,  which  is  so  redolent  of 
happy  thoughts  and  so  favorable  to  the  growth  of  the  finest  sympathies. 
When  they  met  at  their  balls,  there  was  no  ambition  to  excel  in  the  dis- 
play of  costume  and  other  butterfly  follies  incident  to  the  summer  of  civi- 
lization— having  no  intrinsic  value  and  deceiving  by  a  specious  attraction. 

In  speaking  of  the  balls,  it  is  necessary  to  take  a  passing  glance  at  the 
musicians,  who,  with  their  instruments,  contributed  so  much  to  the  enjoy- 


290  THE   GKEA.T   WEST 


ment  of  the  inhabitants.  The  chief  one  was  an  old  man  with  white  hair, 
a  droll  expression  of  countenance,  and  dry  humor.  He  was  scarcely  five 
feet  in  height,  and  almost  as  thick.  He  was  called  Monsieur  Tardif,  and 
at  this  distant  day  there  is  no  means  of  ascertaining  his  patronymic.  He 
was  known  usually  by  his  soubriquet,  and  this  name — which  was  given 
to  him  from  his  slowness  of  motion  over  space — had  more  notoriety  than 
any  other  in  the  village.  At  every  ball,  seated  by  his  side  was  another 
musician,  in  the  person  of  a  darky  of  the  real  African  hue,  but  from  his 
long,  gaunt,  fallow-deer  appearance,  was  called  Chevreuil.  They  were  the 
perfect  antipodes  of  each  other,  and  have  been  the  origin  of  many  a  jest 
among  the  happy  people  of  the  village. 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  291 


CHAPTER    IV. 

St.  Louis  under  the  United  States  Government. — Major  Stoddard. — Gen.  Wilkinson. — 
Lieutenant  Pike. — Lewis  Clarke. — The  increase  of  population  of  the  town. — The 
establishment.of  a  Post-Office. — The  Missouri  Gazette. — The  trial  of  Indian  murder- 
ers.— The  Delaware  and  Shawnee  Indians  near  Cape  Girardeau. — The  h'rst  man  hung 
in  St.  Louis. — Death  of  Governor  Meriwether  Lewis. — Government  of  St.  Louis. — 
Singular  ordinances. — The  mails — The  population  and  business  of  the  city. — Curious 
advertisements. — The  Old  Market  built. — Louisiana  Territory  changed  to  Missouri 
Territory. — The  Missouri  Fur  Company. — The  manner  of  the  organization  of  Fur 
Companies. — Anecdotes  related  by  a  trader. — Trouble  with  the  Indians  in  1812  from 
British  instigation. — Influence  of  General  Clarke  over  them. — A  travelling  magician. 
— Bank  of  St.  Louis. — Bank  of  Missouri. — £t.  Louis  prices  current. — Expenditure  of 
St.  Louis. — Formation*  of  the  Missouri  Bible  Society. 

WHEN  the  Province  of  Louisiana  was  ceded  to  the  United  States, 
Major  Amos  Stoddard  was  appointed  governor  of  Upper  Louisiana,  with 
all  the  power  of  a  Spanish  commandant.  He  lived  in  what  was  known 
as  the  Government  House,  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Walnut  and  south 
of  the  public  square,  La  Place  cTArmes.  He  was  an  officer  of  much 
ability,  an  accomplished  scholar,  and  for  the  short  period  he  was  governor 
of  Louisiana,  fulfilled  with  satisfaction  his  duties. 

On  the  26th  of  March,  1804,  by  an  act  of  Congress,  the  province  of 
Louisiana  was  divided  into  two  parts — the  territory  of  Orleans  and  the 
district  of  Louisiana — and  all  north  of  the  thirty-third  parallel  of  latitude 
was  included  in  the  latter.  The  district  was  placed  under  the  domination 
of  the  territory  of  Indiana,  with  ample  powers  to  regulate  its  civil  and 
military  government.  Not  a  year  elapsed  before  another  act  of  Congress 
declared  that  the  district  of  Louisiana  should  be  changed  into  the  territory 
of  Louisiana,  and  should  have  a  governor  appointed  by  the  president, 
and  the  legislative  power  should  vest  in  the  governor  and  three  territorial 
judges.  The  first  governor  of  the  territory  was  general  Wilkinson.  It 
was  in  August  of  that  year  that  one  of  the  expeditions  under  Lieu- 
tenant Pike  left  their  encampment  near  St.  Louis  for  the  St.  Peter's. 
The  governor  resided  in  the  old  Government  House,  and  in  the  early 
part  of  autumn,  1805,  was  visited  by  Aaron  Burr,  when  that  remark- 
able man,  tormented  by  the  furies  of  a  complaining  conscience  for 
the  death  of  Hamilton,  in  his  restless  excitement,  was  projecting 
schemes  to  gratify  his  overreaching  ambition,  even  though  they  tended  to 
the  severance  of  the  Union.  He  was  betrayed  by  Wilkinson,  whom  he 
thought  his  friend,  and  was  arrested  before  his  schemes  had  matured. 12 

In  September,  1806,  the  little  town  of  St.  Louis  was  again  excited  by 
the  return  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  who  had  traced  the  turbid  Missouri  to  its 
source,  passed  through  a  defile  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  nor  desisted 
until  they  followed  the  Columbia  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  They  had  been 
absent  on  their  perilous  journey  for  two  years  and  a  half,  and  their  arrival 
at  St.  Louis,  on  their  return  to  Washington,  was  an  important  event, 
which  gave  new  excitement  and  set  in  brisker  motion  the  quiet  currents 


292,  THE    GREAT   WEST 


of  the  infant  city.  The  chiefs  of  the  expedition  were  feted  by  the  chief 
inhabitants  of  the  city,  and  the  attendants  received  their  due  share  of 
attention  from  other  of  the  citizens,  who,  though  not  so  high  in  authority 
as  the  rulers  and  the  more  wealthy,  were  equally  as  hospitable,  and  as 
anxious  to  receive  with  the  most  cordial  warmth  the  heroic  men  who  had 
accomplished  so  perilous  an  undertaking.  The  daring  adventure  became 
the  theme  of  universal  conversation  in  the  town,  and  they  who  had  traced 
the  wild  Missouri  to  its  source ;  who  had  smoked  the  calumet  with  the 
most  distant  and  ferocious  tribes  of  Indians ;  who  had  forced  their  way 
through  the  dismal  solitudes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  dauntlessly 
pursued  their  journey  until  they  stood  in  view  of  the  saline  breakers 
of  the  Pacific  washing  the  western  borders  of  our  Union — became  the 
lions  of  the  town  and  "the  observed  of  all  observers."  So  much  did  they 
like  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis,  that  both  Lewis  and  Clark  became 
residents  of  the  town,  and  filled  the  highest  offices  of  the  country.  Even 
the  negro,  York,  who  was  the  body-servant  of  Clark,  despite  his  ebony 
complexion,  was  looked  upon  with  decided  partiality,  and  received  his 
share  of  adulation.  It  is  said  that  York  was  much  given  to  rpmance, 
and  under  the  excitement  of  frequent  spirituous  potations,  with  which  his 
kind  friends  furnished  him  in  abundance,  would  relate  the  most  thrilling 
incidents  which  befell  him  and  the  party  during  long  voyages  through  the 
wilderness,  and  which  would  not  have  been  discreditable  to  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  author  of  Baron  Munchausen,  when  in  his  happiest  flights  of 
erratic  fancy. 

Under  the  administration  of  the  United  States  government,  the  popu- 
lation of  St.  Louis  increased  rapidly.  Immigration  poured  rapidly  in  the 
borders  of  Missouri,  and  enterprising  traders  from  the  eastern  cities  took 
up  their  abode  in  the  town  and  commenced  successful  business.  The 
new  buildings  that  were  put  up  became  more  tasteful  in  their  structure  ; 
a  new  vitality  appeared  to  quicken  the  sluggish  channels  of  business ;  and 
every  thing  gave  indication  of  surrounding  thrift  and  comfort.  A  ferry 
was  established  across  the  Mississippi,  kept  by  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Adams,  and  it  became  so  lucrative,  that  in  a  few  months  after  another 
was  put  in  operation — there  being  a  continual  line  of  immigrant  wagons 
crossing  from  the  east  to  the  west  of  the  Mississippi.13  Some  of  them  were 
kept  sometimes  for  days  on  the  east  side,  waiting  for  their  turns  to  be 
ferried  over.  A  post-office  was  also  established  in  St.  Louis  soon  after 
the  establishment  of  the  United  States  government.*  In  July,  1808,  the 
first  newspaper  was  established  in  St.  Louis :  it  was  started  by  Joseph 
Charless,  a  gentleman  of  fine  business  capabilities  and  some  editorial 
talent,  and  was  called  the  Missouri  Gazette.  The  sheet  was  not  larger 
than  a  royal  octavo  page,  yet  it  was  the  infant  growth  of  the  gigantic 
sheet  now  known  as  the  Missouri  Republican.  It  was  the  first  journal 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  is  now  one  of  the  most  popular  and  ably  con- 
ducted sheets  in  the  Union. 

It  was  in  August,  1808,  that  one  Sauk  and  two  Iowa  Indians  were 
tried  before  the  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  for  murder.  Messrs.  Lucas 
and  Shrader  were  the  presiding  judges.  There  was  much  excitement  in 
the  town  of  St.  Louis,  and  the  streets  literally  swarmed  with  Indian  war- 
riors, who  had  come  to  be  present  at  the  trial.  There  was  much  prejudice 
against  the  Indians  at  the  time,  as  several  mysterious  murders  had  been 

*  The  first  postmaster  was  named  Rufus  Easton. 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  293 

recently  committed,  which  were  charged  upon  some  of  the  marauding 
bands,  and  the  wishes  of  the  people  were  that  those  who  were  known  to 
be  guilty,  should  suffer  the  highest  penalty  of  the  law.  However,  their 
trial  was  conducted  in  the  most  impartial  manner.  A  place  was  set  apart 
in  the  court-house — which  was  the  main  building  occupied  by  the  Spanish 
garrison,  near  what  is  now  the  corner  of  Fourth  and  Walnut — for  their 
friends  to  witness  their  trial,  and  good  counsel  was  assigned  them.  The 
crime  was  clearly  proved  upon  them,  and  they  were  convicted  of  murder, 
and  sentence  of  death  was  pronounced  against  the  Sauk :  for  some  legal 
informality  a  new  trial  was  granted  to  the  lowas.  However,  none  of  them 
were  executed ;  for  by  legal  finesse  it  was  discovered  there  was  a  want 
of  jurisdiction  in  the  case,  and  the  savages  escaped  the  doom  which  they 
well  merited. 

As  has  been  before  observed,  the  Delawares  and  Shawnees  had  been 
invited  west  of  the  Mississippi  by  the  Spanish  authorities,  and  a  large 
portion  of  land  assigned  them  in  the  neighborhood  of  Cape  Girardeau. 
They  were  induced  to  settle  there,  that  they  might  repel  the  assaults  of 
the  Osages,  who  kept  the  Spanish  villages  in  continual  terror  of  their 
invasion. 

The  Delawares  and  Shawnees  built  several  villages  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Cape  Girardeau ;  and  after  the  establishment  of  the  United  States 
government,  so  sensible  were  they  of  the  good  results  of  its  working,  that 
they  determined  to  fashion  a  government  as  near  like  it  as  their  knowledge 
and  circumstances  admitted,  and  resolved  to  adopt  the  habits  of  civiliza- 
tion. They  gave  up  the  chase,  buried  the  tomahawk,  and  devoted 
themselves  for  a  little  season  to  the  pursuits  of  agriculture.  In  their  first 
criminal  court,  three  men  were  convicted  of  murder,  and  without  any 
time  for  repentance  they  were  taken  back  of  one  of  the  villages,  there 
tomahawked,  their  bodies  burnt  upon  a  pile,  and  the  ashes  scattered  to 
the  winds.  The  efforts  of  the  Indians  to  cast  off  their  barbarous  instincts 
and  to  acquire  the  quiet  and  useful  lessons  of  civilization,  proved  unsuc- 
cessful. They  could  not  change  their  nature,  and  quickly  threw  off  the  irk- 
some trammels  of  Caucasian  life — with  which  they  had  fettered  themselves 
for  the  purpose  of  increasing  their  worldly  thrift — and,  relapsing  into  their 
old  habits,  followed  the  fate  of  the  other  tribes,  who  had  sickened  and 
dwindled  before  the  influence  of  civilization ;  and  now,  of  the  Shawnee 
and  Delaware  tribes,  once  so  numerous  and  powerful,  but  few  are  left. 

The  first  execution  that  ever  took  place  in  the  territory  of  Louisiana, 
was  on  September,  16th,  1808,  when  a  young  man  in  the  prime  of  youth 
was  hung  for  the  murder  of  his  stepfather.  He  had  deliberately  shot 
him,  and  it  being  the  first  foul  and  premeditated  murder  that  had 
ever  taken  place  in  the  territory,  though  every  effort  was  made  by  his 
friends  to  avert  his  doom,  he  was  offered  as  a  victim  to  the  offended  laws 
of  his  country.  In  those  days,  hanging  was  conducted  on  very  simple 
principles.  Two  posts  were  planted  a  short  distance  apart,  with  a  fork 
at  the  uppermost  ends,  and  on  the  forks  a  stout  beam  rested,  over  which 
was  swung  a  rope.  The  convict  was  driven  to  the  gallows  in  a  cart, 
seated  in  a  chair,  upon  which  he  stood  when  the  rope  was  adjusted  to  his 
neck.  When  all  was  ready,  the  cart  was  driven  away,  and  the  unfortunate 
aggressor  was  left  strangling  and  struggling  in  the  agonies  of  death.  It 
frequently  happened  that  the  victim,  for  the  purpose  of  releasing  himself 


THE   GKEAT   WEST 


from  agonizing  suspense,  would,  the  moment  that  the  cord  was  adjusted 
to  his  neck,  kick  away  the  chair  and  launch  himself  into  eternity. 

In  the  first  part  of  autumn,  1809,  an  event  took  place  which  caused  a 
universal  gloom  among  the  inhabitants,  and  many  a  weeping  eye  in 
St.  Louis  distilled  drops  of  anguish  for  the  death  of  a  magistrate,  friend, 
and  stateman.  For  many  mouths  Governor  Meriwether  Lewis  had  been 
subject  to  mental  depression,  without  having  any  visible  cause  for  his 
melancholy.  His  friends  viewed  the  marked  change  in  his  conduct  with 
disquietude,  and  bestowed  upon  him  those  thousand  little  attentions 
which  respect  and  warm  friendship  will  suggest,  and  all  in  vain.  While 
on  a  journey,  Governor  Lewis  deliberately  ended  his  life  with  his  pistol.* 
He  was  a  man  of  energy,  probity  and  ambition ;  had  received  the  most 
marked  tokens  of  his  country's  approbation,  and  was  universally  beloved. 
What  was  the  fountain  source  of  that  melancholy  madness,  which  induced 
him  to  perform  such  a  shuddering  deed,  is  a  myth  at  the  present  day. 
His  disposition  from  a  youth  was  pensive — inclined  to  be  "  moody  from 
his  earliest  day."  He.  was  mourned  as  his  worth  and  virtues  deserved, 
and  there  were  published  many  elegies  as  tributes  to  his  memory.  He 
was  the  companion  of  Clark  in  the  expedition  to  the  head-waters  of  the 
Missouri  and  Columbia,  and  was  one  of  the  leading  spirits  in  the  times  in 
which  he  lived. 

The  municipal  government  of  St.  Louis  was  at  that  time  under  the 
control  of  a  board  of  trustees,  vested  with  nearly  the  same  powers  as  now 
incidental  to  the  common  council  and  mayor.  On  February  10th,  1809, 
they  issued  a  proclamation,  requiring  the  citizens  to  form  themselves  into 
fire  companies,  and  enacted  the  laws  regulating  their  government.  Among 
other  things,  they  required  that  each  inhabitant  who  owned  a  building 
should  have  the  chimneys  of  the  same  swept  once  a  month  at  least;  and 
if  a  chimney  caught  fire,  the  presumption  was  that  the  chimney  had  not 
been  swept  according  to  law,  and  the  occupier  was  fined  ten  dollars,  un- 
less .he  could  prove  that  his  chimney  had  been  swept  within  a  month. 
One  of  the  ordinances  provided  that  each  occupier  of  a  house  should  provide 
two  buckets,  to  be  kept  in  a  convenient  place,  for  the  contingency  of  a  fire. 
This  year,  by  an  act  of  the  legislature,  the  limits  of  the  city  were  adjusted. 

The  roads  and  bridges  were  made  and  repaired  in  a  manner  totally 
different  from  what  they  are  at  the  present  day.  There  were  two  asses- 
sors appointed,  who  assessed  in  their  district  so  much  labor,  and  the  time 
for  its  performance,  on  every  property  holder  or  lessee  of  property.  This 
labor  had  to  be  performed  either  in  person  or  by  deputy,  who  was  re- 
quired to  be  an  able-bodied  person,  and  all  were  under  the  direction  of 
an  overseer. 

Even  as  late  as  1810,  the  post-office  arrangements  for  St.  Louis  and 
some  of  the  chief  villages  in  the  territory,  were  very  inferior.  The  mail 
started  from  St.  Louis  to  Cahokia  once  a  week ;  from  St.  Louis  to  Her- 
culaneum,  and  Mine  a  Breton  to  St.  Genevieve,  once  in  two  weeks. 
Though  the  place  had  considerably  improved  under  the  business  enter- 
prise of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  and  under  the  genial  influence  of  our  laws, 
yet  business  was  still  conducted  on  so  moderate  a  scale,  that  it  was  not 
deemed  imperative  to  have  more  frequent  mails.  According  to  a  state- 
ment made  by  a  writer,  dated  March  21st,  1811,  the  town  contained 
1,400  inhabitants.  It  contained  also  one  printing-office  and  twelve 

*  He  was  proceeding  to  Louisville. 


AND    IIEE   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  295 

stores.  The  writer  then  goes  on  to  say  that  both  population  and  business 
had  been  on  a  comparative  stand  for  two  years,  but  both  were  on  the 
increase ;  and  mentions  the  fact  that  every  house  was  taken,  rents  on  the 
increase,  and  the  prospects  of  the  town  were  brightening.  Among  other 
things,  he  states  that  six  or  seven  buildings  were  put  up  during  the  last 
season  (1810),  and  this  season  (1811)  there  would  probably  be  twice  the 
number.  He  also  mentions  the  fact,  that  there  were  two  schools  in  the 
place — a  French  and  English  one.  The  value  of  the  merchandise  and 
imports  of  the  town  was  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars 
annually.  Small  a  sum  as  this  appears  to  be,  it  was  principally  owing  to 
the  fact  that  St.  Louis  was  the  fitting-out  point  for  the  military  and 
trading  establishments  on  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri. 

Even  up  to  this  date  (1811),  peltry,  lead  and  whiskey  made  a  large 
portion  of  the  currency,  and  the  branches  of  business  were  not  at  all  fixed 
and  definite.  We  find  the  following  advertisements  of  some  of  the  busi- 
ness at  that  time : — 

"  Cheap  Goods. — The  subscriber  has  just  opened  a  quantity  of  bleached 
country  linen,  cotton  cloth,  cotton  and  wool  cards,  German  steel, 
smoothing  irons,  ladies'  silk  bonnets,  artificial  flowers,  linen  check,  mus- 
lins, white  thread,  wool  and  cotton ;  a  handsome  new  gig,  with  plated 
harness;  cable  and  cordelle  ropes,  with  a  number  of  articles  which  suit 
this  country,  which  he  will  sell  on  very  low  terms. 

"He  will  take  in  pay,  furs,  hides,  whiskey,  country  made  sugar  and 
beeswax.  JOHN  ARTHUR. 

"  P.  S. — A  negro  girl,  eighteen  years  of  age,  is  also  for  sale.  She  is  a 
good  house  servant." 

"  Notice. — C.  F.  Schewe  will  continue  to  give  lessons  in  the  French 
language,  as  well  at  his  own  lodgings  as  at  the  dwellings  of  those  who 
may  favor  him  with  their  employment.  He  flatters  himself,  that  having 
heretofore  enjoyed  the  patronage  of  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  by  which  his 
talents  have  been  made  known,  that  he  will  be  equally  encouraged  in 
future. 

•'  He  gives  notice  to  the  public  at  large,  that  he  has  a  quantity  of  can- 
dles, moulded  from  the  best  deers'  tallow,  on  hand,  which  he  will  sell 
cheap  for  cash. 

"St.  Louis,  January  3d,  1810." 

Most  of  the  advertisements  approximating  that  period  are  in  the  same 
strain,  and  even  the  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  only  journal  west  of  the 
Mississippi  advertises  in  his  sheet  that  he  will  keep  a  house  of  entertain- 
ment for  strangers,  where  they  will  find  every  accommodation  except 
whiskey.  He  would  also  take  care  of  eight  or  ten  horses. 

It  was  in  January,  1811,  that  the  board  of  trustees  offered  proposals 
for  building  a  market  on  Centre  Square,*  the  name  which  had  been  given 
to  the  public  square  which  had  been  called,  during  the  French  and  Span- 
ish dominations,  La  Place  d?  Amies.  This  square  was  between  Market 

*  This  market,  so  small  in  its  dimensioiis,  was  the  only  market  of  the  village  for 
many  years.  A  new  and  larger  market  was  then  built,  which  remained  until  a  little 
time  before  the  erection  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange. 


296  THE   GREAT   WEST 


and  Walnut  streets,  and  Main  and  the  river.  The  market  was  erected 
during  the  spring,  and  was  not  larger  than  a  respectable  barrack.  Upon 
its  site  stands  the  present  Merchants'  Exchange.  About  this  time  also 
was  passed  an  ordinance  regulating  the  prices  which  boats  had  to  pay 
which  came  to  the  wharf:  and  every  boat  of  five  tons'  burden,  within  the 
territory  of  Louisiana,  had  to  pay  a  duty  of  two  dollars.  There  was  also 
passed  that  year,  "  an  ordinance  for  levying  and  collecting  a  tax  within 
the  limits  of  the  town  of  St.  Louis." 

It  was  in  November,  1811,  that  a  bill  was  laid  before  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives  for  the  government  of  the  territory  of  Louisiana, 
so  as  to  form  the  second  grade  of  territorial  government,  which  gave  more 
power  to  the  people,  and  somewhat  unloosed  them  from  their  dependence 
upon  the  general  government  at  Washington.  In  February,  1812,  the 
Missouri  Fur  Company,  with  which  so  much  of  the  important  history  of 
St.  Louis  is  connected,  was  established.  It  was  organized  by  General 
William  Clark,  Manuel  Lisa,  and  Sylvestre  Labadie,  who  were  individual 
members  of  the  St.  Louis  Missouri  Fur  Company,  which  commenced  its 
existence  in  1808,  and  was  dissolved  and  somewhat  merged  in  the  new 
company.  The  laws  regulating  the  government  of  the  company  were 
drawn  up  with  lucidity  and  accuracy,  and  were  well  calculated  to  preserve 
the  affairs  of  a  company  from  confusion,  and  to  keep  the  constituent 
parts  in  their  proper  orbits  without  clanger  of  interference. 

It  will  not  be  digressing  from  this  narrative,  if  at  this  place  we  should 
give  a  succinct  account  of  the  working  of  the  elements  which  formed  the 
fur  companies — on  which,  at  that  time,  the  very  existence  of  St.  Louis 
depended ;  for  had  she  been  deprived  of  her  peltry  trade,  the  chief  nur- 
ture of  her  commerce  was  gone,  and  instead  of  increasing  in  strength  and 
magnitude,  she  at  once  would  have  commenced  a  premature  decline. 

The  first  care  of  a  company  was  to  select  a  quantity  of  Indian  goods, 
suitable  to  the  trade  with  the  various  savage  tribes  in  whose  country  they 
designed  to  execute  their  operations.  There  had  to  be  much  judgment 
displayed  in  the  selection  of  these  goods;  for,  if  the  blankets  were  of  a 
color  different,  or  a  fraction  larger  or  smaller,  or  of  a  different  shape  from 
those  to  which  they  had  been  previously  accustomed,  and  which  they  had 
adopted  as  the  standard  of  taste,  they  would  have  been  rejected  by  the 
fastidious  savages,  and  would  have  been  unsalable  lumber  upon  the  hands 
of  the  company.  It  was  the  same  with  the  tomahawks  and  the  rifles, 
which  had  to  be  of  a  certain  shape  and  length,  or  they  would  have  been 
refused  by  certain  of  the  swarthy  sons  of  the  forest,  who,  extravagant  in 
their  offers  for  every  thing  which  suited  their  wayward  fancy,  could  not 
be  prevailed  upon  to  receive,  even  as  a  gift,  what  their  custom  had  not 
recognized  as  congenial  to  taste.  From  these  peculiarities  of  the  different 
tribes,  it  was  very  important  that  the  selection  of  goods  should  be  made 
by  some  one  perfectly  familiar  with  the  customs  and  tastes  of  the  Indians 
where  it  was  the  intention  of  the  company  to  trade. 

The  next  care  of  the  company,  after  laying  in  a  suitable  quantity  of 
goods  of  the  proper  kind,  was  to  collect  a  number  of  skilful  hunters  and 
trappers,  for  principally  upon  them  the  success  of  the  expedition  depend- 
ed, as  the  Indians  did  not  supply  a  moiety  of  the  peltry  which  a  fur 
company  calculated  on  collecting.  The  savage  is  always  improvident,  and 
hunts  simply  to  supply  his  necessities,  and  never  his  avarice ;  hence  the 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  297 

quantity  of  furs  and  skins  supplied  by  the  Indians  was  always  inadequate 
to  the  wants  of  a  company. 

The  hunters  and  trappers,  who  in  1812  formed  a  considerable  part 
of  the  population  of  St.  Louis,  were  chiefly  half-breed  Indians,  and  white 
men  who,  from  continual  mingling  in  savage  life,  had  lost  all  taste  for 
civilized  life,  and  loved  the  forest  and  prairie  solitudes,  the  wild  excitement 
of  the  chase,  and  the  sovereign  independence  of  the  swarthy  Indian,  bet- 
ter than  the  wholesome  restraints  which  are  necessary  to  the  government 
of  a  properly  regulated  society. 

These  hunters  and  trappers  carried  into  the  wilderness  all  of  the  vices 
of  civilization,  with  which  they  inoculated  the  simple  savage,  and  when 
they  returned  for  a  season  to  civilized  haunts,  it  was  to  bring;  back  with 
them  the  same  vices,  with  probably  an  increased  love  of  strife,  torture, 
and  fiendish  cruelty,  which  are  so  predominant  in  the  Indian  character. 
They  had  but  two  redeeming  traits — courage  and  honesty.  Their  life 
was  a  series  of  dangers,  and  it  may  be  said  that  danger  was  their  element ; 
and  they  would  scrupulously  pay  to  the  trader  any  overdraw  they  may 
have  made,  which  was  a  frequent  habit  among  them,  when  on  a  frolic. 

In  the  possession  of  the  rifle  and  the  knife,  the  hunter  and  the  trapper 
had  a  Potosi  in  their  possession,  which  supplied  them  with  all  the  riches 
they  required  or  desired,  and  a  protection  which,  in  their  habits  of  self- 
reliance,  they,  valued  more  than  forts  and  bulwarks,  with  their  bristling 
pieces  of  ordnance.  With  constitutions  that  were  impregnable  to  exter- 
nal influences,  and  muscles  and  sinews  which  no  fatigue  could  weaken  or 
relax,  they  would  pursue  their  hazardous  vocation  unaffected  by  the  vicis- 
situdes of  climate,  undaunted  by  the  prospect  of  travelling  hundreds  of 
miles  in  their  precarious  pursuit,  and  through  regions,  probably,  where 
some  hostile  all  their  might  descry  them,  and  with  savages  wile,  lay  some 
trap  to  take  scalp-locks. 

The  usual  dress  of  these  hunters  appeared  somewhat  in  keeping  with 
their  character,  and  the  wild  attire  showed  the  mongrel  blending  of  civi- 
lization and  barbarism.  Short  leather  breeches  with  moccasins  covered 
their  feet  and  legs ;  a  leather  flap  dropped  from  their  waist  to  their 
thighs ;  and  a  shirt,  sometimes  of  thick  flannel  or  cloth,  and  sometimes 
of  deer-skin,  with  a  cap  made  from  the  fur  of  some  animal,  and  often  noth- 
ing on  the  head,  made  the  complete  costumes  of  les  couriers  des  bois, 
as  the}7  were  significantly  called.  Some  of  them  had  wives  in  the  village, 
— whom  they  sometimes  visited  annually,  and  sometimes  in  several  years 
— who  were  left  to  their  own  shifts  and  the  charity  of  their  neighbors ; 
and  what  was  most  singular,  these  women,  despite  this  indifferent  treat- 
ment, and  frequently  with  the  knowledge  that  their  truant  husbands  had 
not  been  true  to  the  marital  relations,  and  had  solaced  themselves  while 
in  the  wilderness  by  cohabiting  with  some  of  the  swarthy  beauties  of 
those  regions — would  on  their  return,  meet  them  with  the  warmest  demon- 
strations of  affection,  and  would  endeavor  to  surround  them  with  every 
comfort  in  their  power  during  their  short  sojourn  among  the  whites;  and 
would  mourn  their  departure  with  heart-felt  sorrow.  The  hunters  and 
trappers  were  an  important  portion  of  the  population  of  St.  Louis,  and 
their  services  were  always  in  demand  by  the  rival  fur-companies,  and  by 
many  enterprising  traders  who  individually  carried  on  the  fur-trade  with 
the  savages,  which,  at  that  time  was  the  chief  avenue  to  pecuniary  success. 


298  THE   GKEAT   WEST 


After  obtaining  the  goods  and  hunters,  the  next  look-out  of  a  fur-com- 
pany was  for  a  trader,  who  had  to  be  a  person  skilled  in  the  knowledge 
of  Indian  goods,  and  a  good  judge  of  all  the  variety  of  skins  and  furs; 
besides  having  experience  with  the  Indians,  and  a  complete  insight  into 
their  customs,  habits  and  character.  A  trader  with  these  qualifications 
was  invaluable,  and  could  command  almost  a  fabulous  amount  for  his 
services;  but  so  rarely  was  a  person  to  be  found  with  the  proper  combina- 
tion of  suitable  qualities,  that  it  usually  was  the  custom  of  some  member 
of  the  fur-company  to  take  charge  of  the  expedition,  and  besides  his  just 
proportion  arising  from  the  expedition,  would  receive  in  addition  a  salary 
equivalent  to  the  risks  and  hardships  he  had  to  encounter. 

The  most  important  personage  connected  with  expeditions  of  this  kind 
was  the  interpreter.  This  was  usually  a  half-breed,  and  was  fashioned 
into  existence  somewhat  after  the  following  manner:  some  French  hunter, 
in  his  vagabond  life  among  savage  tribes,  would  become  enamored  of  some 
swarthy  beauty,  and  persuade  her  to  leave  her  tribe  and  become  a  resident 
in  some  little  town  or  village  on  the  outskirts  of  civilization,  where  these 
worthies  usually  made  their  rendezvous,  when  they  had  become  satiated 
with  the  wilderness,  and,  for  change  or  business,  would  visit  for  a  brief 
season  the  abode  of  the  white  man.  The  progeny  created  by  this  strange 
alliance  would  learn  in  their  infancy,  as  a  matter  of  course,  their  mother's 
tongue,  and  likewise  circulating  among  the  whites,  would  become  ac- 
quainted with  their  language.  When  the  boys  could  shoulder  the  rifle, 
and  were  able  to  endure  the  hardships  of  the  chase,  they  would  accompany 
their  father  in  his  tramps  through  the  wilderness,  would  visit  their  mother's 
tribe  and  other  Indians,  and  probably  would  dwell  with  their  relations  for 
a  time,  and  then  return  to  the  settlements.  They  were  usually  a  desperate 
set  of  vagabonds,  who  thought  the  wilderness,  the  chase,  and  whiskey, 
a  trinity,  alone  worthy  of  their  worship.  However  morally  worthless, 
and  mentally  depraved  and  ignorant,  to  the  fur-companies  they  were  talis- 
mans of  power  and  wealth,  and  were  petted,  flattered  and  cared  for  with 
officious  attention.  They  were  the  channels  of  communication,  and  with- 
out them  it  was  impossible  to  carry  on  any  trade  with  the  Indians.  Most 
of  them  lived  with  the  Indians  altogether,  adapting  tout  dfa.it  their  cus- 
toms and  habits ;  and  from  their  superior  knowledge,  resulting  from  con- 
stant intercourse  with  the  whites,  had  great  influence  with  the  tribes. 

Mr.  Joseph  Philibert,  who  was  long  engaged  in  the  fur-trade  in  the 
early  part  of  the  present  century,  and  who  is  now  in  the  eighty-ninth 
year. of  his  age,  has  related  to  us  some  of  his  thrilling  adventures  when 
pursuing  his  arduous  and  venturesome  vocation  in  the  wild  solitudes  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  We  will  give  a  succinct  history  of  some  of  them, 
as  they  will  interest  the  readers  and  give  them  an  idea  of  the  trials  and 
hardships  incident  to  the  life  of  a  fur-trader,  and  the  daring  courage  they 
had  to  possess  to  surmount  them. 

As  has  been  before  observed,  St.  Louis,  New  Orleans,  and  Mackinaw 
were  the  markets  for  all  the  goods  of  the  traders ;  the  latter  having  the 
preference  and  receiving  the  largest  amount  of  trade. 

Mr.  Philibert  thus  speaks  of  his  experience  as  a  fur-trader :  "  I  always 
made  it  a  rule,  when  I  intended  to  sojourn  any  time  with  any  tribe,  to 
make  the  principal  chief  my  friend.  This  I  could  always  do  by  a  few  in- 
significant presents ;  a  piece  of  vermilion,  a  pocket  looking-glass,  some 


UNION  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

Corner  llth  and  Locust  Streets. 

REV.  J.  J.  PORTEE,  Pastor. 


Corner  of  Chestnut  and  7th  Streets. 

JOHN  How,  President.  GERARD  B.  ALLEN,  Vice-President. 

DIRE  ,c  TORS. 

C.  A.  Pope.     R.  E.  Carr.      S.  Treat.          D.  K.  Ferguson.  C.  Todd.       "Wm.  Patrick. 
G.  F.  Filley.    R.  SeUen.        Ed.  Brooks.     F.  Dings.  S.  H.  Laflin.  J.  J.  Reynolds. 

J.  B.  Eads.      N.  J.  Eaton.    James  Luthy.  R.  M.  Parks.       Jos.  O'Neil.  L.  S.  Faucett. 


WASHINGTON  UNIVERSITY. 
Corner  of  "Washington  Avenue  and  17th  Street. 

WM.  G.  ELIOT,  President.  S.  A.  RANLETT,  Treas.  and  Sec. 

WAYMAN  CROW,  Yice-President.  SAMTJEL  TREAT,  Cor.  Sec. 

DIRECTORS. 

Wm.  G.  Eliot.  Samuel  Treat.  John  Cavender.  Geo.  Partridge. 

John  How.  John  O'Fallon.  Thos.  P.  Gantt.  Jas.  H.  Lucas. 

Wayman  Crow.  James  Smith.  Charles  A.  Pope.  H.  E.  Bridge. 

John  M.  Krum.  S.  A.  Ranlett.  P.  R.  McCreery.  Henry  Hitchcock. 


FIRST  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  SOUTH. 

Corner  of  8th  Street  and  Washington  Avenue. 

REV.  ENOCH  M.  MARIN,  Pastor. 


AND    HEK    COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  299 

flash)'  looking  beads,  and  a  knife,  would  effect  completely  my  purpose  and 
make  him  as  a  puppet  in  my  hands.  I  could  move  him  as  I  wished ;  and 
his  protection  and  friendship  were  of  almost  omnipotent  importance  to 
me  while  hunting,  trading,  and  trapping  in  the  country. 

"  As  singular  as  it  may  appear,  the  trader  had  principally  to  depend  on 
his  own  trappers  for  a  supply  of  the  skins  of  those  animals  which  are 
taken  by  bait  and  covert,  for  the  Indians  are  only  hunters,  and  previous 
to  the  advent  of  the  white  men,  were  wholly  unacquainted  with  trapping. 
Particularly  the  skins  of  the  beaver  at  that  time  were  in  the  greatest  de- 
mand, and  having  the  friendship  of  the  principal  chief  would  prevent  the 
tribe  from  robbing  the  traps,  and  from  other  molestations  which  would 
certainly  take  place  if  that  necessary  precaution  had  not  been  taken. 

"  On  one  occasion  I  went  to  one  of  the  villages  in  the  Crow  country, 
and  though  most  of  the  Indians  have  a  penchant  for  stealing,  yet  the 
Crows  have  this  weakness  to  a  greater  extent  and  excel  all  of  the  tribes 
by  their  superior  dexterity.  As  was  my  custom,  I  sought  out  the  prin- 
cipal chief  and  at  once  won  his  heart  by  carrying  to  his  wigwam  a  supply 
of  scarlet  cloth,  beads,  and  a  few  charges  of  powder  and  ball.  In  my  pos- 
session at  the  time  I  had  a  horse  of  rare  beauty  and  endurance  which  I 
prized  very  highly.  Now  the  Crows  are  great  lovers  of  horse-flesh,  and 
despite  the  friendship  and  protection  of  the  chief,  my  horse  so  excited  the 
cupidity  of  two  of  them,  who  were  the  most  noted  horse-thieves  of  their 
tribe,  that  one  night  he  was  taken,  nor  could  his  whereabouts  be  discovered, 
though  search  was  made  for  many  miles  around.  I  felt  confident  that  he 
was  stolen,  and  thought  it  best  to  offer  some  reward  in  the  way  of  trinkets, 
that  would  cause  him  to  be  returned.  This  was  done  with  the  advice  of 
the  chief.  The  ofter  of  reward  proved  fruitless  ;  the  horse  was  not  forth- 
coming. I  again  went  to  the  chief  and  told  him  of  my  unsuccess.  He 
looked  surprised  and  made  me  relate  again  how  much  reward  I  had 
offered,  and  after  attentively  weighing  the  same,  by  a  cautious  calculation, 
he  said  that  it  was  sufficient  to  bring  the  horse,  and  now  he  would  make 
them  bring  it  back. 

"  I  anxiously  waited  to  know  the  expedient  to  which  the  chief  would 
resort  to  have  my  horse  returned.  I  was  not  kept  long  in  suspense.  He 
arrayed  himself  in  his  most  fanciful  attire,  and,  mounting  his  horse,  he 
rode  around  the  village  speaking  aloud  to  his  people.  After  he  had  made 
the  circuit,  he  told  me  not  to  be  uneasy,  and  that  on  the  following  morn- 
ing I  would  find  my  horse  at  my  encampment.  This  was  most  comfort- 
able information,  for  the  horse  was  of  great  value  and  I  had  become  much 
attached  to  him.  I  arose  at  daylight  next  morning  and  was  ready  to 
reciprocate  a  greeting  with  my  restored  steed,  who  knew  me,  and  by  a 
joyful  neigh  would  evince  his  gladness  at  my  approach.  I  was  dis- 
appointed. My  horse  had  not  been  returned.  I  immediately  went  to 
the  wigwam  of  my  friend,  the  chief,  and  related  to  him  my  disappoint- 
ment. I  could  see  by  the  convulsive  twitch  of  the  muscles  of  his  mouth, 
and  his  flashing  eye,  that  his  temper  was  becoming  disturbed.  Without 
making  a  remark  he  again  mounted  his  horse,  and  as  he  made  the  circuit 
of  the  village,  closer  to  the  wigwams  than  before,  he  spoke  in  a  louder 
and  more  imperious  voice,  and  in  a  manner  expressive  of  the  greatest  dis- 
approbation. After  he  had  concluded,  he  told  me  that  my  horse  would 
now  be  certainly  returned  to  me  on  the  following  morning.  I  felt  assured 
12 


300  THE   GKEAT   WEST 


by  his  positive  manner ;  but  again  I  was  doomed  to  disappointment — * 
there  was  no  appearance  of  my  horse.  Again  I  went  to  the  chief,  and 
when  I  told  him  that  my  horse  had  not  been  restored,  he  threw  off  all  the 
stoicism  of  the  savage  and  gave  vent  to  the  most  terrible  demonstrations 
of  rage.  He  mounted  his  horse,  and  this  time  rode  at  a  most  furious  rate 
among  the  wigwams,  to  the  great  danger  of  warriors,  squaws,  and  papooses, 
who  took  shelter  within  their  huts,  and  were  anxious  to  be  oiit  of  the 
reach  of  their  chief,  who  was  in  such  a  fury.  In  his  mad  career  through 
the  village  he  spoke  in  a  voice  heaving  and  straining  with  rage,  at  the 
same  time  using  the  most  violent  gesticulations.  He  then  told  me  he 
had  given  them  a  lesson  of  what  would  come  if  they  would  not  restore 
the  horse,  and  that  I  could  rest  content,  for  as  soon  as  the  following  morn- 
ing would  break  I  would  find  the  horse.  In  the  last  case  his  prophecy 
became  true,  for  I  found  my  horse,  on  the  breaking  of  the  following  day, 
hitched  close  by  our  rendezvous." 

To  the  same  gentleman  we  are  indebted  for  other  interesting  and  in- 
structive anecdotes,  and  as  they  are  illustrative  of  the  kind  of  life  led  by 
a  large  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis,  and,  though  real,  are  vested 
with  the  brilliant  and  attractive  hues  of  romance,  we  will  insert  them  as 
a  relief  to  the  more  sober  colorings  of  other  parts  of  this  history. 

"  At  the  time  I  traded  up  the  Missouri,"  said  Mr.  Philibert,  "  very  little 
was  known  of  the  Rocky  Mountains;  and  it  was  a  matter  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance, in  attempting  to  cross,  to  secure  a  competent  guide,  particularly 
during  the  inclement  parts  of  the  year,  when  the  mountains  were  covered 
with  snow,  which  concealed  the  landmarks  of  the  passes,  and  which  could 
only  be  discovered  by  those  who  were  familiar  with  their  intricate  wind- 
ings, and  from  experience  could  trace  them,  as  if  by  a  clew,  through  their 
labyrinthical  mazes.  I  had  a  number  of  horses,  with  which  I  wanted  to 
cross  the  mountains,  and  failing  to  secure  a  good  guide,  had  to  depend 
upon  the  little  knowledge  I  possessed  of  the  passes,  and  that  of  my  com- 
panion who  was  assisting  me  in  leading  the  horses.  It  was  the  last  of 
autumn ;  but  the  Rocky  Mountains  form  the  natural  throne  of  winter, 
and  in  autumn  the  snow-storms  are  abundant.  We  took  what  we  sup- 
posed the  right  road  leading  through  a  small  defile  of  the  mountains, 
which  for  many  miles  we  travelled  with  every  assurance  of  being  upon 
the  right  path.  At  length  the  defile  commenced  getting  narrower  and 
deeper,  and  the  snow  lay  so  thick  that  our  horses  could"  no  longer  advance. 
I  thought  it  only  a  temporary  barrier,  and  commenced  to  shovel  away  the 
snow,  which  in  some  places  was  more  than  fifty  feet  in  depth.  For  three 
days  we  were  engaged  in  this  manner,  making  but  little  advance,  and 
scarcely  daring  to  reflect  upon  our  situation,  which  was  most  critical. 
If  we  had  been  disposed  to  return  we  could  not;  for  the  snow  had 
drifted  and  filled  up  the  defile  where  we  had  passed.  Our  only  salvation 
was  in  pushing  forward  and  gaining  the  other  side  of  the  mountains, 
where  we  could  winter  in  some  of  the  valleys,  which  would  furnish  prov- 
ender for  the  horses  in  the  luxuriant  growth  of  cotton-wood,  and  the 
grass,  which  was  always  fresh  beneath  the  heavy  coatings  of  its  dried 
particles,  which  protected  it  from  the  winter.  For  three  days  and  three 
nights  we  worked  incessantly,  and  at  last,  accidentally,  came  upon  the 
right  passage  and  soon  crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains,  where  we  thought, 
though  we  did  not  express  our  feelings  to  each  other  till  afterward,  that 


AND    HER    COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  301 

we  should  find  our  sepulchres.  When  we  arrived  at  the  base  of  the 
mountain,  we  discovered  a  temporary  wigwam  which  had  been  built  by 
some  wandering  party  of  Indians  for  protection  during  some  hunting  ex- 
pedition. We  took  a  great  quantity  of  dried  grass  which  had  been  used 
for  their  horses,  and,  placing  it  into  a  large  heap,  set  it  on  fire  and  com- 
menced thawing  ourselves  out,  and  as  the  grateful  heat  penetrated  our 
flesh,  shrivelled  and  shrunk  from  cold  and  hunger,  we  experienced  the 
most  delicious  sensation.  Our  horses  stood  around  the  fire,  and  appeared 
to  enjoy  the  warmth  as  much  as  ourselves.  We  wintered  in  that  spot, 
faring  most  sumptuously.  The  big-horn,  a  mountain  goat,  was  abundant, 
and  we  would  range  off  to  a  good  distance,  where  we  found  plenty  of  elk, 
and  providing  ourselves  with  the  choicest  parts  of  the  animals  we  would 
shoot,  would  return  to  our  wigwam  and  feast  ourselves  until  the  supply 
was  exhausted.  To  be  sure  we  had  neither  salt,  pepper,  bread,  nor  any 
thing  that  would  supply  the  place  of  these  articles,  yet  we  had  been 
accustomed  to  these  shifts,  and  there  is  something  in  the  cold,  piercing 
air  of  those  regions  which  creates  appetite  and  lends  more  vigor  to  the 
vital  functions.  Spending  the  winter  in  this  manner  I  actually  became 
more  fleshy  and  healthful  than  ever  I  was  when  sojourning  amid  the  com- 
forts of  civilization." 

Mr.  Philibert  informed  us,  that  from  1800  to  1816  St.  Louis  was  the 
rendezvous  of  many  hunters  and  trappers,  who  were  ready  to  let  them- 
selves to  any  individual  or  company  who  might  require  their  services. 
They  were  a  careless,  brave,  and  improvident  set  of  persons,  who  would 
frequently  form  attachments  during  their  intercourse  with  different  tribes; 
and  for  the  tawny  beauties  of  the  forest  would  consent  to  build  their  wig- 
wams among  a  savage  people  and  adopt  their  habits  and  customs.  The 
interpreters  connected  with  the  traders  and  fur-companies  were  usually 
the  issue  of  these  renegado  Frenchmen  and  the  squaws  they  had  taken  as 
wives. 

The  white  men  who  thus  amalgamated  with  the  Indians,  were  always 
hailed  as  a  valuable  acquisition  by  the  tribes  of  that  early  period,  from  the 
effectual  assistance  they  could  render  them  in  their  wars  against  other 
savage  nations,  having  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  destructive  weapons 
used  in  civilized  warfare,  which  but  few  of  the  Indians  could  possess,  from 
the  immense  price  demanded  by  the  traders  for  rifles  and  guns  of  every 
description,  owing  to  the  great  cost  of  transportation  to  so  great  a  dis- 
tance during  the  tedious  navigation  of  that  period. 

The  same  gentleman  informed  us  that  the  only  victory  the  Snake 
Indians — a  miserable  and  cowardly  tribe — ever  obtained  over  the  Black- 
feet,  was  when  eight  reckless  white  men,  from  a  spirit  of  revengeful  re- 
taliation, from  some  injury  they  had  received  from  the  Blackfeet,  joined 
their  warriors  and  led  them  against  a  band  of  that  fearful  and  warlike 
tribe. 

The  white  men  were  all  well  armed  with  rifles  and  adepts  in  their  use, 
and  soon  forty  of  the  terrible  Blackfeet  were  stretched  on  the  battle- 
field. 

When  the  Snake  Indians  returned  to  their  village*  there  was  a  universal 
jubilee.  The  fattest  dogs  were  killed  to  regale  the  warriors,  and  the  forty 
reeking  scalps  taken  upon  that  occasion  became  one  of  the  legendary 
records  of  the  tribe. 


302  THE   GREAT   WEST 


Mr.  Philibert,  on  one  occasion,  in  his  zeal  for  the  chase,  and  his  desire 
to  discover  new  trading  points,  wandered  into  the  Mexican  territory,  was 
taken  prisoner,  and  carried  to  Santa  Fe.  He  was  detained  there  for 
eighteen  months,  having  the  limits  of  the  city,  but  not  being  permitted  to 
leave  it.  He  was  afterward  released  by  the  interference  of  government, 
and  M.  DeMun,  for  whom  he  was  trading,  recovered  a  large  indemnifica- 
tion from  the  Mexican  government  for  the  goods  which  his  agent  had  in 
his  possession  at  the  time  of  his  capture,  and  which  were  confiscated. 

Immediately  after  his  liberation,  Mr.  Philibert  again  joined  M.  De  Mnn's 
company,  and  as  they  were  on  the  way  home  they  weie  set  upon  by  a 
troop  of  three  hundred  savages,  and  the  forty  white  men  who  composed 
the  party,  after  a  contest  of  some  hours,  using  their  wagons  for  a  bari- 
cade,  succeeded  in  repulsing  them. 

A  fur-company,  destined  for  the  Missouri,  in  1812,  had  many  more 
difficulties  to  overcome  and  dangers  to  encounter,  than  a  fur-company  of 
the  present  day.  There  was  no  steam,  with  its  gigantic  power,  to  drive 
a  boat  through  the  wild  waters  of  the  rushing  Missouri ;  but  its  rapid 
current  had  to  be  overcome  by  the  appliances  of  oars  pulled  by  the  sinewy 
arms  of  man.  An  expedition  starting  from  St.  Louis  in  April  would  not 
reach  the  mouth  of  the  Yellow  Stone  until  the  first  or  second  month  in 
autumn,  so  long  and  difficult  was  the  voyage.  The  whole  country,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  small  towns,  then,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri 
to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  was  under  the  perfect  control  of  savage  and  power- 
ful tribes  of  Indians,  who  had  it  in  their  power,  at  every  moment,  to 
destroy  every  expedition  in  their  country,  without  any  immediate  danger 
of  retribution  from  our  government;  and  many  a  daring  trapper  and  ad- 
venturous hunter,  confident  in  his  own  prowess,  has  fallen  by  the  hands 
of  savages  in  those  wild  solitudes,  and  the  bodies  left  mangled  and  unburied, 
to  fester  by  the  gradual  advance  of  decomposition,  or  to  have  the  dese- 
crating sepulture  afforded  by  the  wolves  or  the  buzzards. 

As  has  been  before  observed,  there  were  many  traders  in  St.  Louis  who 
carried  on  the  fur-trade  in  their  individual  capacity,  and  with  frequently 
but  two  or  three  attendants,  would  go  into  the  wild  regions  of  the  Sioux, 
the  Pawnees,  the  Crows,  and  the  Blackfeet,  to  carry  on  trade  with  those 
warlike  tribes ;  and  it  is  something  remarkable  that,  despite  the  hard- 
ships and  privations  incident  to  the  fur-trade  at  that  time,  all  who 
connected  themselves  with  the  expeditions  became  more  robust  in  health, 
and  appeared  to  gather  from  the  pure  atmosphere,  in  which  they  were 
compelled  by  necessity  to  live  in  an  almost  unsheltered  state,  new  sources 
of  vitality  for  the  system,  which  enabled  it  longer  to  resist  the  infirmities 
of  age  and  the  approach  of  death. 

By  the  articles  of  association  of  the  Missouri  Fur  Company,  the  capital 
stock  was  limited  to  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  the  leading  citizens  of  St. 
Louis  became  connected  with  it ;  but,  like  the  St.  Louis  Missouri  Fur 
Company,  it  did  notmeet  the  expectation  that  was  formed  at  its  commence- 
ment, and  in  a  few  years  languished  and  died.  The  company  has  since 
been  renewed,  and  at  a  proper  time  we  will  again  allude  to  it. 

Manuel  Lisa,  one  of  the  chief  directors  of  the  St.  Louis  Missouri  Fur- 
Company,  and  also  of  the  Missouri  Fur  Company,  was  a  Spaniard,  who 
came  from  New  Orleans  to  St.  Louis  a  few  years  previous  to  the  transfer 
of  the  province  of  Louisiana  to  the  United  States.  His  sole  occupation 


AND    HEK    COMMERCIAL    METROPOLIS.  303 

was  trading  with  the  Indians,  and  he  appeared  to  have  been  formed  by 
nature  with  a  predisposition  to  the  pursuit ;  for  he  loved  the  venturesome 
life  incident  to  the  vocation,  and  was  well  versed  in  all  the  strange  and 
strategic  elements  which  compose  the  Indian  character.  He  was  a 
thorough  business  man,  and  possessed  an  ample  share  of  that  peculiar 
cunning  characteristic  of  the  Spanish  trader.  There  was  also  a  dash  of 
wild  romance  about  his  life.  His  first  wife  had  been  long  a  prisoner,  with 
her  child,  among  the  Indians,  until  her  release  was  procured  by  General 
Harrison.  Her  husband  had  been  killed  at  the  time  she  was  taken  cap- 
tive. Manuel  Lisa  saw  her  and  her  child  after  she  had  regained  her 
freedom,  and  pitying  her  misfortunes  and  destitution — for  the  charm  of 
beauty  had  all  fled — he  married  her,  gave  a  luxurious  home  to  herself  and 
daughter,  and  treated  both  in  the  most  affectionate  manner  until  their 
death. 

Manuel  Lisa  had  no  children,  though  twice  married.  The  house  in 
which  he  first  lived  is  still  standing,  a  small  portion  of  the  northern  part 
only  being  removed.  It  is  situated  in  Second  street,  on  the  west  side,  near 
the  corner  of  Spruce,  and  may  be  known  by  the  extended  portico  in  front, 
and  a  kind  of  pigeon-house  roof.  The  house  when  built  was  looked  upon 
by  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  as  almost  a  palatial  residence,  and  was  built 
and  occupied  by  one  of  the  merchant  princes  of  the  growing  town. 
Manuel  Lisa  died  near  St.  Louis,  where  the  Sulphur  Springs  are,  and 
his  property  went  to  the  children  of  his  brother.  We  will  again  speak  of 
this  enterprising  merchant  in  another  place. 

It  was  in  the  year  1812  that  so  many  earthquakes  occurred  in  the 
Southern  and  Western  country,  causing  villages  to  tumble  in  ruins,  an 
entire  change  in  the  face  of  the  country,  and  a  vast  destruction  of  prop- 
erty. In  New  Madrid  particularly,  one  of  those  dreadful  phenomena  of 
nature  occurred,  which  was  distinctly  felt  in  St.  Louis,  and  caused  much 
alarm  to  its  inhabitants.  This  earthquake  is  thus  graphically  described 
by  Dr.  Hildreth  of  Ohio : 

"  The  centre  of  its  violence  was  thought  to  be  near  the  Little  Prairie 
— twenty-five  or  thirty  miles  below  New  Madrid — the  vibrations  from 
which  were  felt  all  over  the  valley  of  the  Ohio,  as  high  up  as  Pittsburgh. 
*  *  *  New  Madrid  having  suffered  more  than  any  other  town  on  the 
Mississippi,  from  its  effects,  was  considered  as  situated  near  the  focus  from 
whence  the  undulations  proceeded.  From  an  eye-witness,  who  was  then 
about  forty  miles  below  that  town,  in  a  flat-boat,  on  his  way  to  New 
Orleans,  with  a  load  of  produce,  and  who  narrated  the  scene  to  me,  the 
agitation  which  convulsed  the  earth,  and  the  waters  of  the  mighty  Missis- 
sippi, filled  every  living  creature  with  horror.  The  first  shock  took  place 
in  the  night  (December  16,  1811),  while  the  boat  was  lying  at  the  shore 
in  company  with  several  others.  At  this  period  there  was  danger  appre- 
hended from  the  Southern  Indians,  it  being  soon  after  the  battle  of 
Tippecanoe,  and  for  safety,  several  boats  kept  in  company,  for  mutual  de- 
fence, in  case  of  an  attack.  In  the  middle  of  the  night  there  was  a 
terrible  shock  and  jarring  of  the  boats,  so  that  the  crews  were  all  awakened 
and  hurried  on  deck  with  their  weapons  of  defence  in  their  hands,  think- 
ing the  Indians  were  rushing  on  board  The  ducks,  geese,  swans,  and 
various  other  aquatic  birds,  whose  numberless  flocks  were  quietly  resting  in 
the  eddies  of  the  river,  were  thrown  into  the  greatest  tumult,  and,  with  loud 


304  THE   GREAT   WEST 


screams  expressed  their  alarm  in  accents  of  terror.  The  noise  and  com- 
motion soon  became  hushed,  and  nothing  could  be  discovered  to  excite 
apprehension  ;  so  that  the  boatmen  concluded  that  the  shock  was  occa- 
sioned by  the  falling  in  of  a  large  mass  of  the  bank  of  the  river  near  them. 
As  soon  as  there  was  light  enough  to  distinguish  objects,  the  crews  were 
all  up  making  ready  to  depart.  Directly  a  loud  roaring  and  hissing  was 
heard,  like  the  escape  of  steam  from  a  boiler,  accompanied  by  the  most 
violent  agitation  of  the  shores,  and  tremendous  boiling  up  of  the  waters 
of  the  Mississippi  in  huge  swells,  rolling  the  water  below  back  on  the 
descending  stream,  and  tossing  about  so  violently,  that  the  men  could 
with  difficulty  keep  their  feet.  The  sand-bars  and  points  of  the  islands 
gave  way,  swallowed  up  in  the  tumultuous  bosom  of  the  river,  carrying 
down  with  them  cotton-wood  trees,  cracking  and  crashing,  tossing  their 
arms  to  and  fro,  as  if  sensible  of  their  danger,  while  they  disappeared  be- 
neath the  flood.  The  water  of  the  river,  which  the  day  before  was  toler- 
ably clear,  being  rather  low,  changed  to  a  reddish  hue  and  became  thick 
with  mud  thrown  up  from  its  bottom  ;  while  the  surface,  lashed  violently 
by  the  agitation  of  the  earth  beneath,  was  covered  with  foam,  which, 
gathering  into  masses  the  size  of  a  barrel,  floated  along  on  the  trembling 
surface.  The  earth  on  the  shores  opened  in  wide  fissures,  and  closing 
again,  threw  the  water,  sand,  and  mud,  in  huge  jets,  higher  than  the  tops 
of  the  trees.  The  atmosphere  was  filled  with  a  thick  vapor,  or  gas,  to 
which  the  light  imparted  a  purple  tinge  altogether  different  in  appearance 
from  the  autumnal  haze  of  the  Indian  summer,  or  that  of  smoke.  From 
the  temporary  check  to  the  current,  by  the  heaving  up  of  the  bottom,  the 
sinking  of  the  banks  and  sand-bars  into  the  bed  of  the  stream,  the  river 
rose  in  a  few  minutes  five  or  six  feet,  and,  impatient  of  the  restraint,  again 
rushed  forward  with  redoubled  impetuosity,  hurrying  along  the  boats,  now 
let  loose  by  the  horror-struck  boatmen,  as  in  less  danger  in  the  water  than 
at  the  shore,  where  the  banks  threatened  every  moment  to  destroy  them 
by  the  falling  earth,  or  carry  them  down  in  the  vortices  of  the  sinking 
masses.  Many  boats  were  overwhelmed  in  this  manner,  and  their  crews 
perished  with  them.  It  required  the  utmost  exertions  of  the  men  to  keep  the 
boat  of  which  my  informant  was  the  owner,  in  the  middle  of  the  river,  as 
far  from  the  shores,  sand-bars,  and  islands  as  they  could.  Numerous  boats 
were  wrecked  on  the  snags  and  old  trees  thrown  up  from  the  bottom  of 
the  Mississippi,  where  they  had  quietly  rested  for  ages  ;  while  others  were 
sunk  or  stranded  on  the  sand-bars  and  islands.  At  New  Madrid,  several 
boats  were  carried,  by  the  reflux  of  the  current,  into  a  small  stream  that 
puts  into  the  river  just  above  the  town,  and  left  on  the  ground  by  the 
returning  waters,  a  considerable  distance  from  the  Missisipppi.  *  *  *  The 
sulphureted  gases  that  were  discharged  during  the  shocks,  tainted  the 
air  with  the  noxious  effluvia,  and  so  strongly  impregnated  the  waters  of 
the  river  to  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  below,  that  it 
could  hardly  be  used  for  any  purpose  for  several  days,  New  Madrid, 
which  stood  upon  a  bluff  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  above  the  summer  floods, 
sank  so  low,  that  the  next  rise  covered  it  to  the  depth  of  five  feet.  The 
bottoms  of  several  fine  lakes  in  the  vicinity  were  elevated  so  as  to  be- 
come dry  land,  and  have  since  been  planted  with  corn." 

These   earthquakes  being  of  unusual   occurrence,  set  in    motion    the 
superstitious  elements  which  so  largely  make  up  the  character  of  the  In- 


AND    HEE   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  305 

dians  and  all  barbarous  nations.  Some  sixty  miles  below  St.  Louis,  as 
has  been  before  stated,  the  Shawnees  and  Delawares  had,  by  the  invitation 
of  the  Spanish  government,  built  some  villages  and  formed  a  settlement. 
These  Indians  could  feel  the  shock  of  the  earthquake  which  was  so  severe 
in  the  neighborhood  of  New  Madrid,  very  sensibly ;  and  as  they  felt  the 
earth  straining  and  heaving,  as  if  in  convulsions,  according  to  their  super- 
stitious creed  they  thought  that  the  Great  Spirit  was  offended,  and  in 
this  way  was  manifesting  his  displeasure  as  a  warning  and  precursor  of 
something  still  more  dreadful  emanating  from  his  wrath  if  hasty  propitia- 
tion were  not  made.  A  writer  of  that  period  thus  describes  the  manner 
in  which  they  attempted  to  conciliate  their  Deity : 

"  After  a  general  hunt  had  taken  place,  to  kill  deer  enough  for  the  un- 
dertaking, a  small  hut  was  built  to  represent  a  temple  or  place  for  offering 
a  sacrifice. 

"The  ceremony  was  introduced  by  a  general  cleansing  of  the  body  and 
the  face,  the  novelty  of  the  occasion  rendering  it  unusually  awful  and 
interesting.  After  neatly  skinning  their  deer,  they  suspended  them  by 
the  fore-feet,  so  that  the  heads  might  be  directed  to  the  heavens,  before 
the  temple,  as  an  offering  to  the  Great  Spirit.  This  propitiatory  solemnity 
usually  continued  three  days,  and  all  of  the  interval  was  devoted  to  such 
penance  as  consists  in  absolute  fasting.  At  night  they  lay  on  their  backs 
upon  fresh  deer-skins,  turning  their  thoughts  exclusively  to  the  happy 
prospect  of  immediate  protection,  that  they  might  conceive  dreams  to  that 
effect,  the  only  vehicle  of  intercourse  between  them  and  the  Great  Spirit. 

"During  this  occasion,  the  old  and  young  men  observed  the  most  rigor- 
ous abstinence  from  cohabitation  with  the  women,  under  a  solemn  persua- 
sion that  for  a  failure  thereof,  instant  death  and  condemnation  awaited ; 
and  they  gravely,  and  with  much  apparent  piety,  implored  the  attention 
of  the  Great  Spirit  to  their  unprotected  and  helpless  condition,  acknowl- 
edging their  absolute  dependence  upon  him,  entreating  his  regard  for  their 
wives  and  children,  their  total  disability  to  master  their  game,  arising  from 
a  dread  of  his  anger,  and  concluding  by  asserting  their  full  assurance  that 
their  prayers  were  heard,  and  that  for  the  future  there  would  be  a  cessation 
of  terrors,  and  game  would  again  be  in  plenty,  and  they  would  have  the 
strength  to  overcome  it. 

"These  strange  proceedings  continued  for  three  days,  and  they  then  be- 
lieved that  the  propitiation  was  complete,  and  that  they  would  no  more 
feel  the  effects  of  the  wrath  of  the  offended  Deity.  They  then  commenced 
to  congratulate  each  other,  related  their  dreams,  and  finally,  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  a  feast,  which  three  days'  abstinence  had  made  them  capable  of 
appreciating,  they  concluded  their  strange  and  superstitious  rites." 

It  was  in  May,  1812,  that  the  chiefs  of  the  Great  and  Little  Osage,  the 
Sacs,  Kenarcls,  the  Shawnees  and  Delawares,  met  at  St.  Louis  in  order 
to  accompany  General  William  Clark  to  Washington  city.  It  is  proper 
here  to  mention  that  General  William  Clark  was  the  brother  of  General 
George  Rodgers  Clark,  the  hero  of  the  West  during  the  Revolution.  He 
was  also  the  compeer  of  Lewis  during  the  celebrated  expedition  to  the 
sources  of  the  Missouri  and  Columbia,  and  was  remarkable  for  the  singu- 
lar pov\er  he  had  over  the  Indians,  who  both  loved  and  feared  him.  He 
had  well  studied  their  character  in  his  constant  communication  with  them, 
and  almost  by  intuition  could  read  their  secret  thoughts.  He  would  dis- 


306  THE   GREAT   WEST 


cover  their  most  subtle  plans,  however  wily  they  may  have  laid  them,  and 
was  looked  upon  by  them  as  a  Great  Medicine.  He  was  their  powerful 
friend  on  all  occasions,  and  often  kept  them  from  impositions  and  wrongs 
which  were  ready  at  all  times  to  be  practised  upon  them  by  unprincipled 
white  men. 

It  was  a -curious  sight  to  witness — these  chiefs  of  the  most  powerful 
tribes  coming  together,  each  preserving  in  their  features  and  attire,  some 
peculiarity  and  custom  of  their  tribe. 

The  representatives  of  these  tribes,  by  the  advice  of  General  Clark,  con- 
cluded a  peace  among  themselves,  and  agreed  to  bury  the  hatchet.  They 
appeared  to  be  moody  and  taciturn,  distantly  repelling  all  familiarity  on 
the  part  of  the  citizens,  who,  excited  by  curiosity,  or  more  friendly  feel- 
ings, endeavored  to  enter  into  conversation.  With  that  cold,  impassive 
stoicism,  for  which  the  Indians  in  their  palmy  days,  when  undegraded  by 
constant  association  with  the  white  men,  were  remarkable,  they  heeded  no 
inquiry;  and  if  pressed  too  closely  by  questions,  would  lift  their  straight 
forms  still  more  lofty,  and  wrapping  their  blankets  closer  around  them, 
would  stride  contemptuously  away.  An  eye-witness  to  the  scene  has 
related  these  facts  to  us. 

On  the  5th  of  May  General  Clark  departed  with  these  chiefs  to  the 
federal  city,  for  the  purpose  of  some  negotiation  with  the  general  gov- 
ernment, and  also  that  they  might  witness  the  wealth  and  power  of  the 
United  States,  and  make  them  the  more  anxious  to  cultivate  friendly  rela- 
tions. 

The  Indians  at  all  times,  were  objects  of  disquietude  and  alarm  ;  for 
both  east  and  west  of  the  Mississippi,  all  efforts  to  conciliate  them  by  pres- 
ents or  kindness,  or  to  subdue  them  by  arms,  were  found  to  be  abortive 
in  producing  any  continued  and  permanent  peace.  They  would  profess 
friendship,  but  only  for  the  purpose  of  throwing  the  inhabitants  off  their 
guard,  and  then  the  settlements  would  become  alarmed  by  the  news  of 
some  horrible  murders  by  bands  of  armed  savages. 

Governor  Howard,  who  filled  the  executive  chair  in  the  territory  of  Lou- 
isiana was  kept  continually  agitated  by  these  alarms,  and  may  be  said  to 
have  spent  nearly  the  whole  term  of  his  office  in  efforts  for  protecting  the 
territory  from  the  incursions  of  the  Indians,  and  notwithstanding  his  vig- 
ilance and  energy,  massacres  were  continually  committed.  He  and  Gov- 
ernor Ninian  Edwards  of  Illinois,  acted  in  concert  to  protect  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  two  territories,  and  kept  constantly  in  employ  large  and  well 
organized  bands  of  militia,  which  kept  the  savages  at  bay,  and  almost 
effectually  restrained  their  power  of  committing  evil.  Tecumseh,  and  his 
brother  the  Prophet,  endeavored  to  sow  defection  among  all  the  savage 
tribes  east  and  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  even  endeavored  to  form  them 
into  a  league  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  the  further  encroachments  of 
the  whites,  and  force  them  east  of  the  Alleghanies. 

Since  the  days  of  Pontiac,  Tecumseh  was  the  most  talented  chieftain  ever 
born  in  the  American  wilds,  and,  animated  by  the  patriotic  desire  of  pro- 
tecting his  race  and  preserving  its  existence  as  a  people,  he  or  his 
brother  the  Prophet,  visited  most  of  the  distant  tribes,  making  eloquent 
appeals  to  their  passions,  by  telling  them  of  the  magnitude  of  their  ancient 
possessions,  the  broad  expanse  of  their  hunting-grounds,  and  of  the  happi- 
ness of  the  red  man  when  he  worshipped  the  Great  Spirit  after  the  custom 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  307 

of  their  ancestors.  After  thus  looking  into  the  past  to  excite  their  pride, 
they  drew  before  them  their  present  state  to  excite  their  vengeance.  They 
showed  them,  since  the  advent  of  the  white  man,  how  their  lands  had  been 
encroached  upon,  their  fame  and  power  diminished,  and  how  they  were 
forced  gradually  to  the  setting  sun  from  the  forests  where  their  fathers 
hunted,  and  from  the  graves  where  their  mothers  lay.  They  then  brought 
before  them  the  daring  deeds  of  the  great  warriors  of  the  red  men,  whose 
spiritual  forms  were  then  chasing  the  chamois  and  the  buffalo  in  the  happy 
hunting-fields,  and  asked  them  to  emulate  their  glory,  retrieve  the  lustre 
of  their  name,  and  all  the  red  men  raising  the  tomahawk  together, should 
tread  with  quick  step  the  war-path,  and  with  the  fires  of  vengeance  burn- 
ing and  seething  through  their  veins,  should  visit  with  dire  wrath  the 
invaders  of  their  land,  and  the  curse  and  bane  of  their  race. 

Under  the  harangues  of  these  celebrated  chieftains,  the  infectious  spirit 
of  discontent  was  spread  among  all  the  tribes,  from  the  Alleghanies  to  the 
Upper  Missouri,  and  the  bold  pioneers  with  their  families,  tar  in  the  wil- 
derness, fell  beneath  the  fury  of  the  excited  savages,  and  their  little  cabins, 
after  the  work  of  human  slaughter  had  been  completed,  were  burned  to 
the  ground. 

In  Illinois  and  Indiana,  the  savages  succeeded  in  organizing  in  an  effec- 
tual manner,  and  only  by  the  fall  of  Tecumseh  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames, 
was  the  country  relieved  from  a  fearful  coalition.  In  Missouri,  there  were 
many  isolated  murders,  but  there  was  no  coalition  of  sufficient  importance 
to  fear  any  regular  invasion.  Especially  in  Missouri,  so  well  was  the 
Indian  character  understood,  that  there  would  have  been  very  little  trouble, 
had  not  the  English,  on  the  declaration  of  war  in  1812,  according  to  their 
custom  sent  their  emissaries  into  the  country  of  the  savage,  and  used  every 
artful  and  mercenary  motive  to  incite  them  against  the  Americans.  Yet, 
on  the  Missouri,  their  efforts  were  nearly  fruitless,  only  some  of  the  reck- 
less belonging  to  some  of  the  tribes,  consenting  to  take  part  in  the  English 
cause.  This  was  owing  in  a  great  measure  to  the  fact  that  the  whole  of 
the  trade  of  the  Missouri,  was  under  the  control  of  merchants  in  St.  Louis, 
and  the  supplies  furnished  by  them  which  served  at  first  as  a  gratification 
of  luxury,  by  habitual  continuance  became  a  necessary.  The  Indians 
could  no  longer  do  without  their  powder,  ball,  guns,  blankets,  vermilion, 
etc.,  since  they  had  been  furnished  so  long  with  these  articles,  that  their 
natures  appeared  to  have  undergone  a  change,  had  adapted  themselves  to 
their  uses,  and  demanded  a  continuance.  They  were  careful,  then,  not  to 
commit  themselves  by  any  approved  act  of  hostility  toward  the  American 
government,  and  were  not  to  be  moved  by  the  artful  persuasions  and 
presents  of  the  British  emissaries.  Whenever  it  was  known  that  any  of 
the  tribe  had  committed  murder  among  the  whites,  they  were  immedi- 
ately given  up  to  the  ruling  chiefs,  and  this  summary  mode  of  expressing 
their  disapprobation,  intimidated  the  young  warriors,  who  were  anxious 
on  every  pretext  to  sound  the  war-whoop,  and  enter  on  the  war-path.* 

The  war  with  England  in  1812,  except  in  exciting  disaffection  among 
the  Indians,  had  very  little  effect  upon  St.  Louis.  She  could  hear  the 

*  In  the  neighborhood  of  Florissant  and  Cote  Sans  Dessein  there  were  many  murders 
committed  by  the  savages,  but  it  is  not  the  province  of  this  work  to  enter  into  any 
detail  of  events  outside  of  the  precincts  of  St.  Louis. 


308  THE   GKEAT   WKST 


stonn  in  the  distance,  but  she  was  too  far  removed  from  the  sea-coast  to 
be  affected,  and  the  thunder  and  lightning  of  British  warfare  hurtled  in 
the  distant  part  of  the  country,  and  were  there  exhausted.  The  contest, 
however,  was  one  of  lively  interest  to  the  people  of  St.  Louis,  and  the  print- 
ing-office of  the  Missouri  Gazette  and  Illinois  Advertiser,  the  name  which 
the  present  Missouri  Republican  bore  during  the  war,  was  continually 
crowded  with  anxious  citizens  to  hear  the  news  from  the  East,  and,  as 
almost  every  week  brought  some  triumph  of  American  arms  on  sea  or 
land,  there  was  much  congratulation  among  the  inhabitants  that  the  ter- 
rors of  the  English  lion  were  of  little  avail,  and  that  it  was  at  length  bowed 
and  conquered. 

When  peace  was  declared,  and  on  terms  so  honorable  to  the  United 
States,  there  was  universal  rejoicing ;  for  the  pride  of  England  was  humbled, 
which  was  a  source  of  considerable  satisfaction,  and  the  trade  of  Mackinaw 
would  again  be  opened,  which  was  more  important  to  the  people  of 
St  Louis  as  a  trading  post,  than  was  New  Orleans,  though  situated  on  the 
great  Mississippi  River. 

In  September,  1814,  we  saw  three  advertisements  in  the  journal  we 
have  just  noticed  that  are  significant  memorials  of  the  times,  and  serve  as 
beacon-lights  to  guide  us  safely  to  its  history.  One  of  the  advertisements 
was  as  follows : 

"SLEIGHT  OF  HAND. — John  Eugene  Leistendorfer,  will  exhibit  on  the  evo 
of  the  24th  inst.,  and  on  every  succeeding  Saturday  evening  during  the 
season,  at  the  same  house  where  he  performed  last  year,  a  number  of 
sleight-of-hand  tricks,  for  the  amusement  of  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of 
this  town  and  vicinity — among  which  he  will  perform  the  following: 

"Any  person  of  the  company  may  cut  off  the  head  of  a  living  chicken, 
and  then  he  will  immediately  restore  it  to  life  with  its  head  on. 

"  He  will  cause  a  shawl  or  handkerchief  to  be  cut  in  two  pieces.  One 
of  the  halves  will  be  burnt,  the  other  cut  into  small  pieces,  and  he  will 
return  it  entire. 

"  A  new  way  of  proving  good  whiskey,  by  putting  a  penknife  or  any 
other  light  article  in  a  tumbler,  and  in  pouring  the  whiskey  on  it;  if  there 
is  any  water  in  the  whiskey,  the  penknife  will  move  only,  but  if  the  whis- 
key is  good,  the  penknife  will  jump  of  itself  out  of  the  water. 

"He  will  catch  between  his  teeth  a  ball  discharged  from  a  pistol,  actu- 
ally loaded  and  fired  by  one  of  the  visitors,  and  after  having  performed  a 
great  many  more  tricks,  too  long  to  be  enumerated,  he  will  conclude  by 
eating  live  coals  of  fire. 

"  The  Prophet  Habdula  Rakmany,  of  Egypt,  an  automaton  figure,  will 
perform  several  extraordinary  and  curious  teats. 

"Constrained  by  misfortune  thus  to  ca  1  upon  the  good  people  of  this 
territory  for  their  assistance,  he  begs  leave  to  observe  that  he  is  the  same 
Colonel  Leistendorfer  who  served  under  General  Eaton,  in  the  capacity 
of  guide,  adjutant,  inspector-general,  and  chief  engineer  in  passing  the 
desert  of  Lybia. 

"  Certificates  from  several  gentlemen  high  in  office  in  this  government, 
testify  to  his  character  and  service. 

"Performance  to  commence  precisely  at  seven  o'clock,  P.  M.  Admit- 
tance, fifty  cents.  Children,  half  price." 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  309 

This  advertisement  of  the  wizard  goes  to  show  that  the  people  of 
St  Louis  in  1814  were  not  a  jot  different  from  the  people  of  the  towns 
and  villages  of  the  present  day.  They  were  fond  of  amusement,  but  as 
yet  no  building  had  been  erected  suitable  for  any  exhibition  of  dramatic 
performance,  and  some  stable-loft,  or  untenantable  building,  was  usually 
fitted  up  to  answer  the  purpose  of  these  itinerant  exhibitors  who  came  to 
the  city. 

It  is  said  that  Colonel  Leistendorfer  had  no  cause  to  regret  his  visit  to 
St.  Louis,  and  when  he  departed,  after  a  protracted  stay  of  three  months, 
his  pockets  were  well  filled  with  the  pure  Mexican  coin,  and  he  enjoyed 
the  reputation  of  either  being  Old  Nick  himself,  who  by  some  device  had 
escaped  from  his  fiery  regions,  or  else  he  was  on  terms  of  the  closest 
intimacy  with  that  individual,  so  astonishing  were  the  wonders  he  per- 
formed. He  afterward  settled  in  Carondelet.14 

In  the  journal  of  the  same  date  we  see  a  notice  of  a  sale  of  land  by  the 
heirs  of  Madame  Chouteau,  then  deceased.  It  was  the  sale  of  the  lot  on 
which  she  had  resided,  situated  between  Second  and  Main,  and  Chesnut 
and  Market,  on  which  Laclede  Liguest  had  built,  and  donated  to  Madame 
Chouteau  and  her  children  ;  she  having  only  the  usufructuary  title,  the  fee- 
simple  vesting  in  her  children,  as  we  have  stated  in  another  portion  of 
this  history.  So  as  to  sell  the  land  to  the  best  advantage,  the  lokwas 
divided  into  four  portions;  for  land  in  that  portion  of  the  town  was  in 
great  demand.  In  this  manner  we  find  out  the  time  when  this  piece  of 
property  was  divided,  which  was  so  strong  a  testimonial  of  the  generosity 
of  the  founder  of  St.  Louis. 

At  the  same  date,  also,  we  see  a  public  notice  given,  that  on  the 
loth  of  December,  subscription  books  would  be  open  at  St.  Louis,  St. 
Charles,  Herculaneum,  Mine  a  Breton  and  St.  Genevieve,  Missouri  Terri- 
tory, and  at  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia,  Illinois  Territory,  for  the  purpose  of 
taking  stock  in  the  new-established  bank  at  St.  Louis.  The  business  of 
St.  Louis  had  so  much  increased,  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  create  a 
bank  to  supply  its  wants  and  conveniences.  The  bank  was  incorporated 
August  21st,  1816.  The  commissioners  of  that  bank  consisted  of  the  fol- 
lowing-named gentlemen  :  Auguste  Chouteau,  John  B.  C.  Lucas,  Clement 
B.  Penrose,  Moses  Austin,  Bernard  Pratte,  Manuel  Lisa,  Thomas  Brady, 
Bartholomew  Berthold,  Samuel  Hammond,  Rufus  Easton,  Robert  Simp- 
son, Christian  Wilt,  and  Risdon  H.  Price.  The  commissioners  called 
a  meeting  of  the  stockholders,  on  the  2d  of  September,  1816,  and  the 
following  thirteen  gentlemen  were  elected  directors:  Samuel  Hammond, 
William  Rector,  Bernard  Pratte,  Risdon  H.  Price,  Moses  Austin,  E.  B. 
Clempson,  Theodore  Hunt,  JustusPost,  Robert  Simpson, Charles  N.  Hunter, 
Walter  Wilkinson,  Theophilus  W.  Smith,  and  Elias  Bates.  The  directors 
then  met  on  the  20th  of  September,  for  the  purpose  of  electing  bank  offi- 
cers, and  Colonel  Samuel  Hammond  was  elected  president,  and  John  B. 
N.  Smith,  cashier. 

All  felt  that  a  bank  was  a  necessity,  and  some  of  the  leading  citizens 
of  the  town  became  connected  with  the  new  institution.  For  a  time  the 
little  town  felt  the  benefit  of  a  banking-house,  and  the  current  of  business 
swelled  in  volume  and  moved  with  increased  vitality,  from  the  flood  of 
money  that  was  poured  upon  all  its  channels.  It  is  the  law  of  nature  that 
the  greater  the  flood  the  greater  the  ebb,  and  the  tide  of  business,  when 


310  THE   GEEAT   WEST 


it  swells  and  inflates  to  an  excessive  magnitude,  will  have  its  hour  of  col- 
lapse, and  shrink  into  contracted  boundaries.  The  sudden  influx  of  money 
poured  out  by  the  new  bank  gave  an  unnatural  expansion  to  commercial 
affairs,  created  a  spirit  of  speculation  and  extravagance,  and  jeopardized 
every  thing  by  the  dangerous  momentum  which  it  gave. 

The  bank  had  not  been  in  operation  for  more  than  two  years  before 
the  public  felt  convinced  that  something  was  wrong  in  the  financial  foun- 
tain which  at  first  distilled  so  largely  its  supplies,  and  afterward  became 
so  meagre  and  exsiccated  that  business  commenced  to  languish  for  the 
want  of  its  usual  support  and  nurture. 

The  directors  felt  convinced  that  the  cashier  of  the  bank  had  exceeded 
his  powers  and  loaned  at  too  much  hazard  the  money  of  the  bank.  At  a 
meeting  which  took  place  on  the  llth  of  February,  1818,  Theophilus  W. 
Smith  was  elected  cashier,  in  the  place  of  John  B.  N.  Smith,  the  former 
officer,  which  election,  being  displeasing  to  some  of  the  directors,  a  portion 
of  them  resigned,  and,  feeling  that  the  business  of  the  bank  was  not  car- 
ried on  in  a  legitimate  and  prudent  manner,  they  took  the  keys  of  the 
bank,  vi  et  armis,  and  it  was  some  time  before  they  could  be  prevailed 
upon  to  give  them  up  again  to  the  proper  officers. 

Then  the  business  of  the  bank  was  in  so  deranged  a  state,  that  it  was 
impossible  that  it  would  ever  recover  from  its  difficulties,  and  an  honorable 
policy  demanded  that  it  should  be  wound  up ;  but  this  seizure  of  the  keys 
created  a  sympathy  in  its  favor,  and  as  the  officers  pleaded  the  part  of 
injured  innocence,  they  found  many  friends  among  the  people.  They 
asked  for  a  little  while  to  arrange  and  ameliorate  their  affairs,  which  they 
acknowledged  were  somewhat  embarrassed  on  account  of  a  large  Kentucky 
loan  made  by  the  former  cashier.  After  several  months  occupied  in 
putting  their  business  on  a  proper  footing,  the  bank  again  opened  its  doors, 
but  only  for  a  short  period.  It  had  been  tottering  for  more  than  a  year, 
and  fell  at  last,  dragging  in  its  fall  the  fortunes  and  prospects  of  many  in- 
dividuals, and  ruining  the  reputation  of  others,  who  were  strongly  suspected 
of  sacrificing  their  moral  principle  to  cupidity.  The  ruin  of  the  bank  was 
followed  by  many  vexatious  lawsuits,  which  were  productive  of  but  little 
pecuniary  benefit  of,  except  to  the  legal  gentlemen  who  conducted  them 
through  all  the  lengthened  chain  of  nisi  prius  and  appellate  process. 

A  little  while  after  the  establishment  of  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis,  the 
Missouri  Bank  came  into  existence,  and  was  incorporated  February  1st, 
1817.  The  commissioners  who  were  appointed  by  the  stockholders  to 
receive  subscriptions,  were  Charles  Gratiot,  William  Smith,  John  McKnight, 
Jean  B.  Cabanne,  and  Matthew  Kerr;  and  these  gentlemen  were  mainly 
instrumental  in  bringing  the  bank  into  existence.  The  first  cashier  was 
Lilburn  W.  Boggs,  and  the  first  president  Anguste  Chouteau. 

It  will  give  the  reader  an  insight  of  the  leading  citizens  by  giving  the 
names  of  the  stockholders  and  the  amount  of  stock  for  which  they  sub- 
scribed. The  shares  were  one  hundred  dollars  each. 

Shares.  Shares. 


Thomas  F.  Riddick,   31  $3,100 

William  Smith,   30  3,000 

Jean  P.  Cabanne 30  3,000 

Berthold  &  Chouteau, 30  3,000 

Auguste  Chouteau, 30  3,000 


Christian  Wilt, 30  $3,000 

Joseph  Philipson, 20  2,000 

McKnight  &  Brady 30  3,000 

Thomas  Hanley, 20  2,000 

Brady  &  McKuight, 20  2,000 


AND    HER   COMMERCIAL    METROPOLIS. 


311 


Shares. 

Matthew  Kerr  &  Bell, 20    $2,000 

Charles  Gratiot, 20  2,000 

Sylvestre  Labbadie, 15  1,500 

Frederick  Bates, 15  1,500 

M.  D.  Bates, 15  1,500 

John  Little 15  1,500 

Thomas  Hempstead, 10  1,000 

Lilburn  W.  Boggs  &  Co.,  . .  10  1,000 

James  Clemens,  Jr 10  1,000 

Moses  Scott 10  1,000 

ElishaBeebe, 10  1,000 

Holmes  &  Elliot, 10  1,000 

Alexander  McNair, 10  1,000 

Wm.  E.  Carr, 10  1,000 

Michael  Tesson, 10  1,000 

J.  &  G.  Lindell, 10  1,000 

John  W.  Thompson, 10  1,000 

Wm.  E.  Pescay, 10  1,000 

Thomas  Brady, 10  1,000 

J.  N.  Amoure'ux,  10  1,000 

C.  N.  B.  Allen, 10  1,000 

Henry  Von  Phul  &  Co., 10  1,000 

John  B.  C.  Lucas, 20  2,000 

Antoine  Chenie, 10  1,000 

Wm.  Christy, 10  1,000 

Robert  Walsh, 10  1,000 

P.  J.  &  J.  G.  Lindell, 10  1,000 

Jeremiah  Connor, 10  1,000 

Michael  Ely 5  500 

Charles  Bosseron, 5  500 

Michael  Dollan, 5  500 

Thomas  Peebles, 5  500 

Evariste  Maury, 5  500 

A.  Landreville, 5  500 

D.  Delauny, 5  500 

M.  P.  Leduc, 5  500 

Samuel  Edgar, 5  500 

Total  amount 


Shares. 

Emilien  Yosti, 5  $500 

Charles  Dehault  Delassus,  .  5  500 

Silas  Bent, 5  500 

Benjamin  O'Fallon 5  500 

Farrar  &  Reed, . . .' 3  300 

Nero  Lyons, 3  300 

Josiah    Brady, 3  300 

C.  M.  Price, 3  300 

Christian  F.  Shewe, 3  300 

A.  L.  Papin, 3  300 

Charles  Sanguinet, 2  200 

James  Irwiri, 2  200 

Antoine  Danjin 2  200 

Joseph  Robidoux, 2  200 

Silas  Curtis, 2  200 

John  B.  Zenoni, 2  200 

A.  Rutgers, 2  200 

Peter  Provenchere, 2  200 

Christian  Smith, 2  200 

R.  Davis, 2  200 

Ephraim  Town, 2  200 

Wm.  Cabane 2  200 

Macky  Wherry, 2  200 

Marguerite  Lacaise, 2  200 

Francois  Valois, 2  200 

P.  Lee, 2  200 

Peter  Primm, 1  100 

Wm.  Sullivan, 1  100 

Samuel  Solomon, 1  100 

Bartholomew  Arnauld, . ...  1  100 

Joseph  Charless, 5  500 

Edward  Addarly, 5  500 

Antoine  Soulard, 4  400 

Joseph  Henderson,  Jr, ....  10  1,000 

Michael  Lacroix, 10  1,000 

Pierre  Meuard, 30  3,000 


$78,500 


All  of  these  names  were  either  residents  of  St.  Louis  or  its  vicinity, 
and  it  was  their  intention  to  establish  a  bank  on  a  more  extended  basis 
than  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis,  which  was  at  that  time  (in  September,  1817), 
in  its  golden  age  of  prosperity.  Their  bright  hopes  were  doomed  to 
disappointment.  The  first  days  were  the  days  of  their  innocence  and 
their  promise.  Both  indulged  to  some  extent  in  the  gambling  spirit 
of  speculation ;  both  sinned  by  violating  the  legitimate  laws  of  banking, 
and  in  a  few  years,  with  their  prospects  all  blasted,  ended  their  existence 
in  ruin  and  disgrace. 

The  Bank  of  Missouri  had  a  capital  of  $250,000,  and  was  one  of  the 
banks  of  deposit  of  the  public  moneys.  It  entered  into  being  with  the 
perfect  confidence  of  the  public;  but,  like  most  banking  institutions,  it 
hazarded  its  money  in  the  hands  of  the  speculator,  whose  every  move  on 
the  checker-board  of  life  is  at  random,  and  at  variance  with  that  calcula- 
tion and  foresight  which  give  certainty  and  success  to  business  pursuits. 
It  paid  but  little  attention  to  the  limited  wants  of  the  industrious,  who, 
by  each  day's  labor  in  a  proper  vocation,  were  adding  to  the  general 
wealth.  It  listened  to  the  gorgeous  schemes  of  the  speculator,  who 


312  THE   GREAT   WEST 


lives  a  drone,  useless  and  unprofitable,  continually  disturbing  the  har- 
monious orbits  of  business  life,  until  all  the  witchery  of  the  visionary's 
projects  seduced  its  directors  from  that  business  caution  which  alone  gives 
security  to  financial  operations.  Though  the  fall  of  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis 
should  have  been  fraught  with  instruction,  yet  it  followed  in  the  same 
course,  was  drawn  into  the  same  vortex,  and  was  at  length  swallowed  up 
in  the  same  maelstrom  of  wild  speculation.  Like  its  predecessor,  it  de- 
ranged to  a  great  extent  the  channels  of  business,  and  crippled  in  its  fall 
many  deserving  and  industrious  citizens,  who  faithfully  tried  to  sustain 
the  "  falling  ruins." 

On  Tuesday,  June  6th,  1816,  Manuel  Lisa  arrived  in  St.  Louis,  accom- 
panied by  forty-three  chiefs  of  the  different  nations  on  the  Missouri.  They 
came  to  St.  Louis  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  Governor  Clark,  whom  they 
always  esteemed  their  friend,  that  he  would  signify  to  the  president  of 
the  United  States  their  wish  to  assist  him  in  his  contemplated  chastise- 
ment of  the  Sacs  and  other  nations  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  who  were 
hostile  to  our  government.  Among  the  number  was  Big  Elk,  the  Omaha 
chief,  whom  Mr.  Catlin,  in  his  Indian  history,  has  so  long  dwelt  upon  and 
eulogized,  and  Partisan,  the  Teton  chief,  who  made  an  unsuccessful  offort 
to  stop  Messrs.  Lewis  and  Clark  in  their  journey  to  the  Pacific  ocean. 
There  were  also  chiefs  of  the  Oncas,  the  Sioux  and  the  Yanctons. 

The  next  day  after  their  arrival,  when  they  were  all  assembled  in  coun- 
cil, they  addressed  Governor  Clarke  in  language  which,  being  translated, 
was  in  substance  as  follows. 

"My  Father:  We  have  come  a  long  way  to  see  you,  to  receive  infor- 
mation. The  white  people  call  the  Indians  dogs;  they  are  so,  but  we 
are  inoffensive  dogs  who  traverse  the  plains  in  search  of  food.  The  hands 
of  the  Sioux  are  clean ;  they  never  have  been  stained  with  the  blood  of 
the  whites.  We  are  not  like  those  nations  who  receive  your  presents, 
and  put  them  under  their  blankets,  and  then  turn  their  backs  to  you. 
Put  something  sharp  in  our  hands,  that  we  may  help  ourselves,  and  by  so 
doing,  help  you.  The  sky  is  clear,  and  the  great  Father  of  the  world 
hears  what  we  sav." 

After  the  Sioux  chief  had  taken  his  seat,  Big  Elk,  the  great  chief 
of  the  Omahas,  rose  up  in  the  assembly.  He  had  a  towering  form, 
and  his  countenance  wore  the  expression  of  loftiness  and  intelligence.  A 
tastefully  dressed  buffalo-skin  hung  from  his  shoulders  to  his  heels,  on 
which  were  painted  bloody  and  black  hands  intermingled  with  red  stripes, 
and  the  course  of  the  Missouri  from  its  mouth  to  their  village.  The 
waters  of  the  Missouri  were  of  a  red  color. 

The  Omaha  chief,  when  he  rose  in  the  assembly,  took  his  robe  from  his 
broad  and  muscular  shoulders,  and  holding  it  toward  Governor  Clark, 
thus  explained  to  him  the  symbols  that  were  upon  it.  He  told  him  to 
look  upon  the  red  hands — that  they  were  Americans,  and  the  black  hands 
were  Indians,  and  the  bloody  stripes  were  inflicted  by  the  Americans  and 
hostile  Indians.  He  closed  with  telling  him  that  the  whites  had  killed 
an  Omaha  chief,  and  that  the  Missouri  was  red  with  his  blood. 

At  this  charge  against  the  whites,  Governor  Clark  was  much  sur- 
prised; but  when  he  succeeded  in  ascertaining  the  time,  he  learned  that 
some  time  during  the  Spanish  domination,  a  trader  from  St.  Louis  had 
killed  an  Omaha  Indian,  which  had  been  remembered  to  this  time.  Gov- 


AND    HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  313 

ernor  Clark  explained  to  the  chief  the  change  of  government,  and  that 
the  United  States  could  not  be  held  responsible  for  the  offence.  The 
chief  listened,  with  some  surprise  at  the  explanation,  and  was  apparently 
satisfied. 

Manuel  Lisa  understood  the  Protean  phases  of  the  Indian  character ; 
and  met  all  of  their  wiles  and  strategic  lore  with  a  masterly  power  which 
surprised  and  subdued  them.  He  was  of  great  service  to  the  United  States 
in  defeating  the  arts  of  the  British  emissaries,  who  were  ever  on  the  alert  to 
prejudice  and  excite  them  to  hostility  against  our  government.  His  suc- 
cess as  a  trader  created  some  envy,  and  reports  became  circulated  in  St. 
Louis  that  he  had  appropriated  goods  and  moneys  belonging  to  govern- 
ment to  his  own  purposes.  The  charges  were  slanderous  and  unfounded ; 
for,  though  as  a  trader  he  was  an  adept  in  the  legitimate  license  of  bar- 
gaining, yet,  in  his  extrinsic  connections,  he  was  liberal  and  honorable. 
We  here  append  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  Governor  Clark,  denying  the 
charges  which  had  been  rumored  against  him,  and  resigning  the  office  of 
Indian  agent,  which  he  had  held  for  three  years. 

"  ST.  Louis,  July  1st,  1817. 
"  To  HIS  EXCELLENCY  GOVERNOR  CLARK  : 

"  Sir  : — I  have  the  honor  to  remit  to  you  the  commission  of  sub  agent, 
which  you  were  pleased  to  bestow  upon  me  in  the  summer  of  1814,  for 
the  Indian  nations  who  inhabit  the  Missouri  River,  above  the  mouth  of 
the  Kansas,  and  to  pray  you  to  accept  my  resignation  of  that  appoint- 
ment. 

"The  circumstances  under  which  I  do  this  demand  of  me  some  exposition 
of  the  actual  state  of  these  Indians,  and  of  my  own  conduct  during  the 
time  of  my  subagency. 

"Whether  I  deserve  well  or  ill  of  the  government  depends  upon  the  so- 
lution of  these  questions:  1st.  Are  the  Indians  of  the  Missouri  more  or 
less  friendly  to  the  United  States  than  at  the  time  of  my  appointment? 
2d.  Are  they  altered,  better  or  worse,  in  their  own  condition,  during 
this  time  ? 

"To  the  first  proposition  I  have  to  say,  that  I  received  this  appointment 
when  war  was  raging  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  and 
when  the  activity  of  British  emissaries  had  armed  against  the  republic 
all  the  tribes  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  and  of  the  northern  lakes.  Had 
the  Missouri  Indians  been  overlooked  by  British  agents  ?  No.  Your 
excellency  will  remember  that  more  than  a  year  before  the  war  broke  out 
I  gave  you  intelligence  that  the  wampum  was  carrying  by  British  influence 
along  the  banks  of  the  Missouri,  and  that  all  the  nations  of  this  great 
river  were  excited  to  join  the  universal  confederacy  then  setting  on  foot, 
of  which  the  profit  was  the  instrument,  and  the  British  traders  the  soul. 
The  Indians  of  the  Missouri  are  to  those  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  as  four 
are  to  one.  Their  weight  would  be  great,  if  thrown  into  the  scale  against 
us.  They  did  not  arm  against  the  republic ;  on  the  contrary,  they  armed 
against  Great  Britain,  and  struck  the  lowas,  the  allies  of  that  power. 
When  peace  was  proclaimed,  more  than  forty  chiefs  had  intelligence  with 
me ;  and  together  we  were  to  carry  an  expedition  of  several  thousand 
warriors  against  the  tribes  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  and  silence  them  at 
once.  These  things  are  known  to  your  excellency. 


314  THE    GREAT   WEST 


"To  the  end  of  the  war,  therefore,  the  Indians  of  the  Missouri  continued 
of  the  United  States.  How  are  they  to-day,  when  I  come  to  lay  down 
my  appointment  ?  Still  friends,  hunting  in  peace  upon  their  own  grounds, 
and  we  trading  with  them  in  security,  while  the  Indians  of  the  Upper 
Mississippi,  silenced  but  not  satisfied,  give  signs  of  enmity,  and  require 
the  presence  of  a  military  force  :  and  thus  the  first  question  resolves  itself 
to  my  advantage. 

"To  the  second  question  I  thus  reply  : — Before  I  ascended  the  Missouri 
as  subagent,  your  excellency  remembers  what  was  accustomed  to  take 
place.  The  Indians  of  that  river  killed,  robbed  and  pillaged  the  traders; 
these  practices  are  now  no  more.  Not  to  mention  others,  my  own  estab- 
lishments furnish  the  example  of  destruction  then,  of  safety  now.  I  have 
one  among  the  Omahas,  more  than  six  hundred  miles  up  the  Missouri, 
another  at  the  Sioux,  more  than  six  hundred  miles  further  still.  I  have 
from  one  to  two  hundred  men  in  my  employment,  quantities  of  horses,  of 
horned  cattle,  of  hogs,  of  domestic  fowls.  Not  one  is  touched  by  an  In- 
dian ;  for  I  count  as  nothing  some  solitary  thefts,  at  the  instigation  of 
white  men,  my  enemies;  nor  as  an  act  of  hostility,  the  death  of  Pedro 
Antonio,  one  of  my  people,  shot  this  spring,  as  a  man  is  sometimes  shot 
amongst  us,  without  being  stripped  or  mutilated.  And  thus  the  morals 
of  these  Indians  are  altered  for  the  better,  and  the  second  question  equally 
results  to  my  advantage. 

"  I  have  had  some  success  as  a  trader ;  and  this  success  gives  rise  to 
many  reports. 

" '  Manuel  Lisa  must  cheat  the  government,  and  Manuel  Lisa  must  cheat 
the  Indians ;  otherwise  he  could  not  bring  down  every  summer  many 
boats  loaded  with  rich  furs.' 

"Good.  My  account  with  government  will  show  whether  I  receive  any 
thing  out  of  which  to  cheat  it.  A  poor  five  hundred  dollars,  as  snbagcnt 
salary,  does  not  buy  the  tobacco  which  I  annually  give  to  those  who  call 
ma  father. 

"'Cheat  the  Indians.'  The  respect  and  friendship  which  they  have  for 
me,  the  security  of  my  possessions  in  the  heart  of  their  country,  respond 
to  this  charge,  and  declare,  with  voices  louder  than  the  tongues  of  men, 
that  it  cannot  be  true :  but  Manuel  Lisa  gets  so  much  rich  fur  !  Well,  I 
will  explain  how  I  get  it.  First,  I  put  into  my  operations  great  activity. 
I  go  a  great  distance,  while  some  are  considering  whether  they  will  start 
to-day  or  to-morrow.  I  impose  upon  myself  great  privations.  Ten 
months  in  the  year  I  am  buried  in  the  depths  of  the  forest,  at  a  vast  dis- 
tance from  my  own  house.  I  appear  as  the  benefactor,  not  as  the  pillager 
of  the  Indian.  I  carried  among  them  the  seed  of  the  large  pumpkin, 
from  which  I  have  seen  in  their  possession  fruit  weighing  one  hundred 
and  sixty  pounds ;  also  the  large  bean,  the  potato,  the  turnip ;  and  these 
vegetables  will  make  a  comfortable  part  of  their  subsistence;  and  this 
year  I  have  promised  to  carry  the  plough.  Beside,  my  blacksmiths  work 
incessantly  for  them,  charging  nothing.  I  lend  them  traps,  only  demand- 
ing a  preference  in  their  trade.  My  establishments  are  the  refuge  of  the 
weak,  and  of  the  old  men  no  longer  able  to  follow  their  lodges ;  and  by 
these  means  I  have  acquired  the  confidence  and  friendship  of  the  natives 
and  the  consequent  choice  of  their  trade. 

"  These  things  have  I  done,  and  I  propose  to  do  more.     The  Ricaroes 


STEAMER  SUBMARINE,  No.  12,  Belonging  to  the  Western  River  Improvement 

and  "Wrecking  Company  of  St.  Louis. 
S.  H.  LAFLIN,  President.  W.  C.  EUOHANNAN,  Secretary. 

DIRECTORS. 

T  A  Buckland.     W.  S.  Nelson.     James  B.  Eads.    Charles  K.  Dickson. 
Charles  Tillman.  S.  H.  Laflin.  J.  H.  Oglesby. 


MISSOURI  MEDICAL  COLLEGE. 
JOSEPH  N.  MCDOWELL,  Dean  of  Faculty. 


CHRISTIAN  BROTHERS'  SCHOOL. 
BROTHER  PATRICK,  President. 


NEW  MASONIC  HALL. 
Corner  of  Market  and  7th  Streets. 


MERCANTILE  LIBRARY  HALL  BUILDING. 
6th  Street  corner  of  Locust. 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  315 

and  the  Mandans,  the  Gros-Ventres  and  the  Assinniboins,  find  themselves 
near  the  establishment  of  Lord  Selkirk,  upon  the  Red  River.  They  can 
communicate  with  it  in  two  or  three  days.  The  evils  of  such  a  communi- 
cation will  strike  the  minds  of  all  persons,  and  it  is  for  those  who  can  handle 
the  power  to  dilate  upon  them. 

"  For  me,  I  go  to  form  another  establishment,  to  counteract  the  one  in 
question,  and  shall  labor  to  draw  upon  us  the  esteem  of  these  natives, 
to  prevent  their  commerce  from  passing  into  the  hands  of  foreigners. 

"  I  regret  to  have  troubled  your  excellency  with  this  exposition.  It  is 
right  for  you  to  hear  what  is  said  of  a  public  agent,  and  also  to  weigh  it, 
and  consider  the  source  whence  it  comes.  In  ceasing  to  be  in  the  employ 
of  the  United  States  I  shall  not  be  less  devoted  to  its  interest.  I  have 
suffered  enough  in  person  and  in  property,  under  a  different  government, 
to  know  how  to  appreciate  the  one  under  which  I  now  live. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  bo,  with  the  greatest  respect,  your  excellency's 
obedient  servant,  "  MANUEL  LISA." 

"ST.  Louis,  July  2d,  1817. 

"Sir: — Last  year  I  arrived  from  the  Missouri  {.he  22d  of  June,  and 
learned  that  scandalous  reports  were  circulated  against  me.  I  wrote  and 
published  an  article  in  the  Gazette  of  this  town.  The  calumny  was  re- 
futed, and  the  authors  refused  to  unmask  themselves.  On  the  first  of 
September,  I  re-entered  the  Missouri,  and  ascended  it  to  my  upper  estab- 
lishment, a  distance  of  twelve  hundred  miles.  Returning  to  this  place  on 
the  14th  instant,  I  learned  from  you  the  day  before  yesterday,  that  cer- 
tain scandalous  reports  were  again  on  foot  to  my  prejudice. 

"  1.  That  I  had  disposed  of  the  merchandise  of  government  to  my  own 
account. 

"  2.  That  I  had  not  brought  down  the  Panis  to  treat  with  the  commis- 
sioners at  St.  Louis,  upon  their  requisition. 

"  3.  That  I  had  prevented  the  Omahas  from  revenging  upon  the  Sioux 
the  murder  of  Pedro  Antonio. 

"  4.  That  I  had  misapplied  the  provisions  given  to  me  last  year,  for  the 
Sioux  and  Omahas  returning  home. 

"  5.  That  I  sold  whiskey  to  the  Indians. 

"  I  owe  it  to  you,  sir,  from  whom  I  received  the  appointment  of  sub- 
agent,  to  exculpate  myself  from  these  charges,  which  I  propose  to  do  in  a 
few  words. 

"1.  I  received  your  order  the  24th  of  August,  1814,  to  receive  from 
Mr.  Sibley,  $1,335  of  merchandise,  prices  of  St.  Louis,  to  be  distributed 
among  the  Indians  of  the  Missouri,  to  engage  them  in  offensive  opera- 
tions against  the  enemies  of  the  United  States.  The  20th  of  August, 
the  same  year,  General  Howard,  in  his  official  letter,  wrote  to  me,  saying, 
'  I  hope  you  will  be  able  to  raise  the  Sioux  against  the  other  Indians 
of  the  Mississippi.  If  you  succeed  in  exciting  them  to  war,  it  is  impor- 
tant, at  least,  that  one  of  the  principal  chiefs  of  each  band  should  come 
to  St.  Louis.' 

"  I  distributed  the  merchandise.    I  raised  the  war  parties.    The  presents 

were  made  among  the  Omahas  and  the  Yanctons.     The  former  made 

some  scalps,  which  were  brought  to  St.  Louis,  in  February,  1815.     I  gave 

a  rendezvous  to  the  Yanctons,  at  the  entry  of  the  river  a  Jacques,  where 

13 


316  THE   GREAT   WEST 


there  met  me  about  nine  hundred  warriors,  and  went  and  took  twenty- 
seven  scalps  from  the  allies  of  Great  Britain,  the  lowas  of  the  Upper 
Mississippi ;  and  completed  the  request  of  General  Howard,  by  bringing 
down  to  St.  Louis  forty-seven  warrior  chiefs.  This  is  all  of  the  mer- 
chandise I  have  received  from  government ;  it  has  all  been  distributed, 
and  the  objects  of  the  distribution  have  all  been  accomplished. 

"  2.  The  Panis  were  not  brought  down.  That  is  true.  I  did  not  bring 
them  because  the  official  letter  of  Mr.  Sibley  prevented  me  from  doing 
it.  I  wrote  to  you  on  the  29th  of  June  past,  and  enclosed  this  letter,  and 
consider  no  other  details  necessary  to  my  justification ;  as  I  could  not 
doubt  the  official  statement  of  an  accredited  Indian  agent,  that  the  treaty 
was  closed,  and  that  it  was  not  the  wish  of  the  commissioners  that  any 
more  Indians  should  be  brought  down. 

"3.  I  did  prevent  the  Omahas  from  revenging  on  the  Sioux  the 
murder  of  Pedro  Antonio.  The  case  was  this :  Antonio,  a  Spaniard  in 
my  service,  was  killed  nine  miles  from  my  establishment.  His  comrades 
fled,  and  gave  me  intelligence.  I  took  one  hundred  and  ninety-two  war- 
riors of  the  Omaha  tribe,  and  went  to  the  spot.  Those  who  did  the 
mischief  had  fled.  The  Omahas,  impatient  for  blood,  were  eager  to  follow. 
I  stopped  them  with  my  own  presents  and  my  own  influence,  and  I  take 
honor  to  myself  for  having  done  it.  The  body  of  Antonio  was  not  mu- 
tilated ;  it  was  covered  with  a  blanket,  and  his  face  with  a  hat ;  his 
comrades  might  have  been  killed — they  were  not  hurt.  The  death  of 
Antonio,  then,  was  a  case  of  simple  murder,  and  not  an  act  of  national 
hostility  on  the  part  of  the  Sioux.  For  one  guilty  act,  must  I  turn  loose 
two  hundred  warriors  upon  the  innocent  ?  Forget  all  moral  principle,  and 
turn  barbarian  myself,  because  in  a  country  called  savage  ?  Beside,  I  had 
among  the  Sioux  at  my  upper  establishment,  two  Americans  and  a  Creole, 
who  must  have  felt  the  tomahawk  if  I  had  revenged  upon  the  innocent, 
the  death  of  Pedro  Antonio.  I  rejoice  that  the  stupid  calumniators  have 
made  this  charge.  In  attempting  to  render  such  conduct  criminal,  they 
show  the  business  of  which  they  are  capable,  and  the  crimes  they  are  ready 
to  commit  to  injure  me. 

"4.  I  had  a  contract  for  a  certain  sum,  $1,100,  and  a  certain  quantity 
of  provisions,  to  conduct  the  Omahas  and  the  Sioux,  the  last  fall,  to  their 
respective  homes.  There  were  forty-seven  men  of  them,  and  the  voyage 
was  of  three  months.  I  received  from  the  clerk  of  the  commissioner,  Mr. 
Wash,  the  order  for  the  provisions,  and  the  papers  of  his  office  will  show 
the  quantity.  It  will,  then,  be  easy  to  calculate  that  barely  enough  was 
allowed  to  conduct  the  chiefs  to  their  homes,  and  they  were  conducted 
there  ;  and  thus  there  is  no  room  for  misapplication  of  a  surplus  which 
did  not  exist. 

"  5.  That  I  have  sold  whiskey  to  the  Indians. 

"  If  this  charge  be  true,  it  is  capable  of  being  proved.  There  are  in 
this  town,  at  present,  many  persons  who  have  been  in  my  employment, 
characters  of  the  first  respectability ;  also  five  nations  with  whom  I  have 
traded ;  among  them  can  be  found  witnesses  to  attest  the  fact,  if  it  be 
true.  On  the  contrary,  I  appeal  to  the  whole  of  them,  and  pronounce  it 
a  vile  falsehood.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  an  act  of  hospitality  indispensa- 
ble in  his  intercourse  with  the  Indians,  for  the  trader  to  treat  his  hunters 
with  small  presents  of  liquor.  They  look  for  it,  and  are  dissatisfied  if  they 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS. 


317 


do  not  receive  it.  The  permanent  trader  makes  such  presents  with  dis- 
'cretion.  I  have  made  them,  and  urged  the  necessity  of  them  to  your 
excellency. 

.  "Thus  much  I  have  been  induced  to  write  and  publish,  to  refute  the 
slanders  against  me,  because  I  have  but  just  arrived,  and  my  affairs  will 
require  me  soon  to  depart  again,  and  I  cannot  be  here  to  contradict  them 
in  person. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  respect  and  consideration,  <fec., 

MANUEL  LISA." 
u  His  EXCELLENCY  WM.  CLARK." 

We  give  a  list  of  the  St.  Louis  retail  prices  current,  of  November  23d, 
1816,  which  will  afford  a  pretty  correct  idea  of  the  market  of  the  territo- 
rial city  at  that  period. 

ST.  LOUIS  RETAIL  PRICES  CURRENT. 


Beef,  on  foot,  per  cwt  ........  $4  00 

Bread,  ship,  none  ...........  0  00 

Butter,   .  per  Ib  ............  0  25 

Beeswax,    do  ...............  0  25 

Candles,      do  ............  0  25 

Cheese,       do  ...............  025 

common,  do  ..........  0  12 

None  in  market-  •  •  •  °  °° 


Coffee,  per  Ib  ................  0  50 

Cotton,  do  ..................  0  40 

"      yarn,  No.  10  ..........  1  25 

Feathers,  perlb  ..............  0  50 


Flour,  per  bbl.,  S.  fine,  in  demand  $16  00 

"  Horse-mill  do.,  per  cwt. . .  6  00 

Grain — Wheat,  per  bush I  00 

Rye,  do 0  62 

Barley,  do 0  75 


Corn, 
Oats, 


do. 
do. 


0  37 
0  37 


Gunpowder,  per  Ib 1  00 

Hams,              do 0  12 

Hides,  per  piece, 2  75 

Hogs'  lard,  per  Ib 0  12 

Bears'  do.,  per  gal 150 

Honey,          do 1  00 


It  now  becomes  our  duty  to  relate  an  event  which  created  at  the  time 
much  excitement,  and  by  its  tragical  termination  brought  anguish  and  deso- 
lation into  the  parental  household,  and  mourning  by  the  hearthstone  of 
friendship.  The  circumstance  alluded  to  is  the  death  of  Charles  Lucas, 
who  was  attorney  of  the  United  States  of  Missouri  Territory,  in  a  duel  with 
Thomas  H.  Benton.  We  do  not  wish  to  kindle  again  the  ashes  of  the 
past,  and  shall  only  relate  the  facts  which  are  required  by  this  history, 
without  making  any  comments  upon  them. 

The  commencement  of  the  controversy  took  place  in  a  court-house, 
when  the  two  legal  gentlemen  were  engaged  in  a  cause  on  opposite  sides. 
In  the  zeal  for  their  clients  they  both  forgot  the  courtesy  whioh  was  due 
to  each  other,  the  court,  and  their  brother  members,  and  indulged  in  harsh 
and  vituperative  language. 

Colonel  Benton,  chafing  at  what  he  considered  an  insult,  sent  Mr.  Lucas 
a  challenge,  which  Mr.  Lucas  declined  accepting,  on  the  ground  that  his 
professional  statements  to  a  jury  should  not  be  the  basis  of  a  quarrel 
sufficient  to  cause  him  to  jeopardize  his  own  life  or  that  of  another.  The 
poisoned  arrow  of  vengeance  had  touched  the  sensitive  organization  of 
both,  and  it  caused,  on  a  future  occasion,  a  very  little  pretext  to  make  the 
wounds  rankle  and  the  blood  to  boil  like  a  seething  cauldron. 

They  were  opposed  in  politics,  and  were  looked  upon  as  the  leaders 
of  their  respective  parties.  At  a  political  meeting,  both  of  the  young 
champions  became  excited  on  some  topic  of  controversy,  and  Mr.  Lucas 


318  THE    GREAT   WEST 


sent  a  challenge  to  Colonel  Benton,  which  was  accepted.  The  parties  met 
at  Bloody  Island,  opposite  St.  Louis,  on  the  morning  of  the  12th  of 
August,  1817,  with  pistols,  to  decide  their  difference.  They  took  their 
stations  at  ten  paces,  and  fired  simultaneously — the  ball  of  Colonel  Ben- 
ton  inflicting  a  severe  wound  upon  the  neck  of  Mr.  Lucas,  whose  ball, 
striking  the  ground  a  few  feet  from  Colonel  Benton,  bounced  from  some 
object  it  struck,  and  came  in  contact  with  his  knee,  causing  a  slight  con- 
tusion. 

The  wound  of  Mr.  Lucas  caused  a  great  effusion  of  blood,  and  his  sur- 
geon withdrew  him  from  the  field — after  it  had  been  agreed  upon  by  the 
seconds  that  the  parties  should  have  another  meeting  when  Mr.  Lucas's 
wound  should  permit.  The  difference  between  the  two  young  men  was 
in  a  few  days  afterward  adjusted  by  mutual  friends,  and  the  matter  was 
temporarily  settled.  It  was,  however,  only  temporary ;  for  thousands  of 
reports  came  into  circulation,  having  no  foundation  in  truth,  and  calcu- 
lated to  arouse  again  the  dormant  fires  of  hostility.  Some  of  these 
reports  so  reflected  upon  the  conduct  of  Colonel  Benton,  and  proceeding, 
as  he  thought,  either  from  the  friends  of  Mr.  Lucas  or  himself,  that  he  sent 
Mr.  Lucas  word  that  he  held  him  to  the  promise  subsisting  between  them 
at  the  termination  of  the  former  encounter,  that  there  should  be  another 
meeting.  They  met,  and  Mr.  Lucas  fell. 

Colonel  Benton  lived  for  many  years  a  faithful  servant,  and  an  honor 
to  his  country.  As  a  patriot  and  a  statesman,  he  makes  a  part  of  the 
constellation  of  great  men,  who  have  shed  lustre  upon  the  annals  of  their 
country,  and  whose  name  will  be  identified  with  the  history  of  our  Union. 
His  adversary,  young  Lucas,  was  cut  off  in  the  spring  of  life,  when  bright 
hopes  were  flowering  and  blossoming  around  him,  pregnant,  it  is  believed, 
with  the  germs  of  future  greatness.  He  died  on  the  27th  of  September, 
1817,  aged  twenty-five  years  and  three  days. 

As  it  will  be  of  interest  to  the  reader,  we  here  give 

THE    RECEIPTS   AND  EXPENDITURES   OF  THE   COUNTY  OP  ST.  LOUIS 
FOR  THE  YEAR  ENDING  NOVEMBER  3D,  1817. 

RECEIPTS. 

Amount  of  county  tax-list  delivered  to  the  sheriff  for  collection  for  the 

present  year $2,074  83$ 

EXPENDITURES. 

Circuit  Court,  November  Term.  1816. 

An  account  allowed  Benjamin  Johnson,  for  his  fees  as  a  justice  of  the  peace 
in  the  following  cases :  United  States  vs.  Stephen  Maypes,  William  Rus- 
sell, Elijah  Benton,  David  Boyles,  and  John  Johnson 826 

Do.  of  Mary  Philip  Leduc,  clerk  of  the  circuit  court,  for  making  out  the 
territorial  and  county  tax-lists  for  the  years  1815  and  1816;  for  money 
by  him  paid  Charless  for  publishing  notice  of  court  of  appeals,  held  to 
correct  said  lists 85  00 

Do.  of  William  Sullivan,  for  boarding  Alexander  Rock,  a  prisoner,  and  his 

services  as  turnkey 12  75 

Do.  of  do.,  for  his  services  as  jailor,  from  the  first  day  of  January,  1816,  to 
the  1 5th  November  of  the  same  year,  for  furnishing  wood  and  candles  at 
this  term  of  said  court 141  25 

Do.  for  do.,  for  boarding  Bill,  a  black  man,  and  his  services  as  turnkey 16  00 

Do.  of  do.,  for  boarding  Benjamin  Dye,  a  prisoner,  and  his  services  as 

turnkey 14  25 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  319 

Circuit  Court,  May  Term,  1811. 
An  account  allowed  John  W.  Thompson,  sheriff,  for  furnishing  tub  for  jail, 

water-bucket  for  court-house,  benches,  and  stationery $12  37$ 

Do.  of  do.,  for  twelve  days'  rent  fora  court-hous»  at  this  term  of  the  court..         36  00 
Do.  of  William  Sullivan,  for  putting  on  and  taking  off  irons  from  Bill,  a 

prisoner  discharged 1  50 

Do.  of  do.,  for  holding  coroner's  inquest  on  the  body  of  Samuel  Burrows, 

deceased 19  45 

Do.  of  do.,  for  boarding  Benjamin  Dye,  a  prisoner,  and  furnishing  wood —         19  50 

Do.  of  do.,  for  his  services  as  jailor,  six  months 75  00 

Do.  of  do.,  for  boarding  William  Dunn,  a  prisoner 2  87  J- 

Circuit  Court,  October  Term,  1817. 
An  account  allowed  Henry  S.  Geyer,  circuit  attorney,  in  the  following  cases 

— United  States  vs.  Mary  Morris,  indictment  returned  by  grand  jury,  not 

a  true  bill;  same  vs.  Bowles  Duncan,  same  vs.  Joseph  Leblond  and  David 

Twithy  (true  bill,  not  convicted) — total  in  these  cases 16  00 

Do.  of  James  Rankin,  for  surveying  county  line  between  St.  Louis  and 

Washington  counties 125  66 

Do.  of  William  Sullivan,  for  boarding  Henry  Matthews,  a  prisoner  in  jail...         55  87 £ 
Do.  of  do.,  for  boarding  Don  Quixotte,  a  prisoner,  furnishing  wood,  and  his 

fees  as  turnkey 14  50 

Do.  of  do.,  for  his  services  as  jailor 75  00 

Do.  of  M.  P.  Leduc,  for  money  paid  for  county  purposes,  issuing  subpoenas 

for  witnesses  to  testify  before  the  grand  jury,  his  fees  in  criminal  cases 

where  no  convictions  were  had 34  63 

Do.  of  do.,  for  making  three  tax-lists  of  territory  and  two  of  county 125  00 

Do.  of  do.,  for  money  paid  Joseph  Charless,  for  publishing  a  list  of  receipts 

and  expenditures  for  the  year  1816 7  00 

Do.  of  William  Sullivan,  for  his  house  at  this  term  of  the  court  eighteen 

days 5400 

Do.  of  John  W.  Thompson,  for  summoning  two  grand  juries  at  this  term 

of  the  court,  and  for  stationery 28  00 

Do.  of  Joseph  V.  Gamier,  a  justice  of  the  peace,  in  the  following  cases : — 

United  States  vs.  Joseph  Leblond,  U.  S.  vs.  Henry  Matthews,  U.  S.  vs. 

Don  Quixotte,  U.  S.  vs.  Joseph  H.  Beckley,  U.  S.  vs.  Adonis  B.  Farrar, 

U.  S.  vs.  David  Twitty,  U.  S.  vs.  Daniel  Dougherty. — Total 30  06£ 

Do.  of  J.  W.  Thompson,  for  summoning  a  grand  jury  at  the  May  term  of 

this  court 12  50 

Account  paid  Jean  B.  Maurice  dit  Chatillon,  a  pauper 26  00 


TERRITORY  OF  MISSOURI,  ) 


$1,048  43i 


County  of  St.  Louis. 

I,  Mary  Philip  Leduc,  clerk  of  the  circuit  court  within  and  for  the  county  aforesaid, 
do  certify  the  foregoing  to  be  a  true  statement  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the 
county  of  St.  Louis,  for  the  year  ending  the  third  day  of  November,  1817. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and  affixed  the  seal  of  my 
office,  at  St.  Louis,  this  thirteenth  day  of  November,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
(L.  S.)  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventeen,  and  of  the  American  Independence, 
the  forty-second. 

M.  P.  LEDUC,  CUc.,  by 
AND.  S.  M'GIRK,  D.  Clerk. 

In  1817,  the  pernicious  system  of  lotteries,  which  is  nothing  less  than 
a  species  of  gambling,  as  destructive  to  morals  and  as  fraught  with  ruin  as 
any  other  that  is  protested  against  by  the  law,  was  established.  It  was 
first  authorized  by  the  legislature,  so  as  to  create  a  fund  for  building  an 
academy  at  Potosi,  and  then  for  purchasing  fire-engines  for  the  town  of 
St.  Louis,  and  also  for  the  erection  of  a  Masonic  Hall.  Lottery  offices 


320  THE   GREAT   WEST 


to  this  day  are  legalized  in  this  state,  and  are  a  reproach  to  the  morals 
and  wisdom  of  our  legislature. 

In  this  year  there  was  an  act  to  incorporate  a  board  of  trustees  for 
superintending  the  schools  in  the  town  of  St.  Louis.  These  first  trustees 
were  William  Clarke,  William  C.  Carr,  Thomas  H.  Benton,  Bernard 
Pratte,  Auguste  Chouteau,  Alexander  McNair,  and  John  P.  Cabanne ;  and 
this  was  the  commencement  of  the  common-school  system  which  has 
been  brought  to  so  much  perfection  in  St.  Louis,  and  has  been  fraught 
with  untold  blessings  to  future  generations. 

On  the  15th  of  December,  1818,  a  meeting  of  the  most  respectable  in- 
habitants of  the  town  of  St.  Louis  took  place,  which  the  following  clause 
connected  with  their  proceedings  will  explain  : — u  Impressed  with  the  im- 
portance of  a  general  circulation  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  we,  the  under- 
signed, agree  to  form  ourselves  into  a  society  designated  by  the  name  of 
the  'Missouri  Auxiliary  Bible  Society.'" 

At  this  meeting  a  constitution  was  drafted,  and  at  a  subsequent  meet- 
ing on  the  22d,  the  following  gentlemen  were  chosen  acting  officers  of 
the  society  : — Nathaniel  B.  Tucker,  president;  Stephen  Hempstead,  Alex- 
ander McNair,  and  Rev.  James  E.  Welsh,  vice-presidents.  The  directors 
were  Colonel  Rufus  Easton,  Rums  Pettibone,  Rev.  John  M.  Peck,  John 
Jacoby,  Charles  W.  Hunter,  John  Simons,  and  Thomas  Jones.  Colonel 
Samuel  Hammond  was  appointed  treasurer,  and  Rev.  S.  Giddings  secretary. 
This  society  continued  in  existence  for  many  years,  and  became  the  parent 
of  many  other  societies,  formed  by  those  who  were  influenced  by  a  spirit 
of  religion  and  philanthropy. 

It  was  in  St.  Louis,  on  the  first  of  April,  1818,  that  the  first  sale  of  lots 
of  the  town  of  Hannibal  took  place,  which  had  been  just  laid  out.  The 
proprietors  of  the  newly-laid-out  town  were  Stephen  Rector,  Thompson 
Baird,  Thomas  Rector,  William  V.  Rector,  Richard  Gentry,  and  M.  D. 
Bates.  The  location  was  well  suited  for  a  town,  and  Hannibal  is  now  one 
of  the  most  thriving  cities  in  North-eastern  Missouri.  The  hopes  of  its 
proprietors  have  been  more  than  realized. 

In  1818,  Missouri  applied  for  admission  into  the  Union,  having  all  the 
requisites  required  by  the  constitution  for  admission.  It  was  then  that 
the  slavery  question,  which  was  commencing  to  be  agitated,  became  the 
great  subject  of  interest,  and  the  field  of  political  strife.  Whether  Mis- 
souri should  be  admitted  as  a  slave  state  into  the  Union  was  an  inquiry 
so  important  in  its  results  that  it  threatened  for  a  time  the  rupture  of  the 
Union.  The  North  was  strenuously  opposed  to  the  extension  of  slavery, 
while  the  members  from  the  South  contended  that  Missouri  should  be  ad- 
mitted without  restriction.  It  was  the  most  exciting  contest  ever  known 
in  the  houses  of  Congress,  and  both  parties  stood  their  ground  in  so  hos- 
tile an  attitude  that  the  patriots  of  the  day  became  alarmed,  and  to  pre- 
serve the  noble  fabric  of  our  government,  as  a  temporary  resort,  proposed 
a  compromise,  which  is  known  as  the  celebrated  "  Missouri  Compromise." 
It  was,  in  effect,  that  slavery  should  not  extend  in  any  new-formed 
state  north  of  thirty-six  degrees  forty  minutes,  north  latitude,  except 
in  the  case  of  Missouri,  in  which  it  was  agreed  to  permit  the  inhabitants 
to  frame  their  own  constitution,  leaving  it  with  them  to  permit  slavery  in 
its  limits  or  to  abolish  it. 

It  is  not  the  province  of  the  present  work  to  inquire  into  the  wisdom 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  321 

of  'the  compromise  measure,  or  to  expose  its  unconstitutional  tendencies. 
Let  it  suffice  that  it  answered  the  intended  purpose,  and  fora  time  quieted 
sectional  rancor,  and  took  from  unprincipled  politicians  all  grounds  for 
disturbing  the  peace  of  the  Union,  and  advancing  their  unworthy  ends. 
It  may  be  of  interest  to  the  reader  here  to  give  the  names  of 


THE    MEMBERS  OF  CONGRESS    FROM    NON-SLAVEHOLDING  STATES  WHO  VOTED 
IN    FAVOR    OF    ADMITTING    MISSOURI   WITHOUT    RESTRICTION. 

"  To  them,  if  my  feeble  voice  can  effect  it,  shall  be  erected  an  imperishable  monu- 
ment of  everlasting  fame." — Mr.  Barbour's  speech. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  their  names : 

IN  THE   SENATE. 

From  Rhode  Island — Mr.  Hunter. 

From  Connecticut — Mr.  Lauman. 

From  New  Hampshire — Mr.  Parrott. 

From  Vermont — Mr.  Palmer. 

From  Delaware — Mr.  Vandyke  and  Mr.  Horsey. 

From  Illinois — Mr.  Edwards  and  Mr.  Thomas. 

IN  THE   HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 

From  Massachusetts — Messrs.  Holmes,  Shaw,  Hill,  and  Mason. 

From  Rhode  Island — Mr.  Eddy. 

From  Connecticut — Messrs.  Foot  and  Stevens. 

From  New  York — Messrs.  Storrs  and  Meigs. 

From  New  Jersey — Messrs.  Bloomfield,  Smith,  and  Kinsey. 

From  Pennsylvania — Messrs.  Baldwin  and  Pullerton. 

From  Delaware — Mr.  M'Lane. 


THE     MEMBERS     FROM     THE     SOUTH    AND    WEST    WHO    VOTED     IN    FAVOR    OF 
ADMITTING    MISSOURI    WITHOUT    RESTRICTION. 

"  United  as  a  Spartan  band,  standing  for  forty  days  in  the  pass  of  Thermopylae,  de- 
fending the  People  of  Missouri,  the  Treaty  of  Cession,  and  the  Constitution  of  the 
Republic." 

The  following  is  a  list  of  their  names : 

IN  THE  SENATE. 

From  Maryland — Messrs.  Lloyd  and  Pinkney. 
From  Virginia — Messrs.  Barbour  and  Pleasants. 
From  North  Carolina — Messrs.  Mason  arid  Stokes. 
From  South  Carolina — Messrs.  Gaillard  and  Smith. 
From  Georgia. — Messrs.  Elliott  and  Walker. 
From  Kentucky — Messrs.  Logan  and  Johnson. 
From  Tennessee — Messrs.  Williams  and  Eaton. 
From  Louisiana — Messrs.  Brown  and  Johnson. 
From  Mississippi — Messrs.  Leake  and  T.  H.  Williams. 
From  Alabama— Messrs.  W.  R.  King  and  J.  W.  Walker. 


322  THE    GREAT   WEST 


IN  THE  HOUSK  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 

From  Maryland — Messrs.  Archer,  Bayly,  Culbreth,  Kent,  Little,  Neale,  Ringgold 
Smith,  and  Warfield. 

From  Virginia — Messrs.  Alexander,  Archer,  P.  P.  Barbour,  Burwell,  Floyd,  Garnett, 
Johnson,  Jones,  M'Coy,  Mercer,  Nelson,  Newton,  Parker,  Pindall,  Randolph,  Ballard, 
Smith,  Smythe,  Strother,  Sweariugen,  Tucker,  Tj'ler,  Jared  Williams. 

From  North  Carolina — Messrs.  H.  G.  Burton.  Culpepper,  Davidson,  Edwards,  Fisher, 
Hall,  Hooks,  Settle,  Slocumb,  J.  S.  Smith,  F.  Walker,  and  L.  Williams. 
•   From  South  Carolina — Messrs.  Brevard,  Earl,  ErvSn,  Lowndes,  M'Creary,  Overstreet, 
Pinkney,  Simkins,  and  Tucker. 

From  Georgia — Messrs.  Abbot,  Crawford,  Cobb,  Cuthbert,  Reid,  and  Terrell. 

From  Kentucky — Messrs.  Anderson,  Brown,  Hardin,  M 'Clean,  Metcalfe,  Quarles, 
Robertson,  and  Trimble. 

From  Tennessee — Messrs.  Allen,  Bryan,  Cannon,  Cooke,  F.  Jones,  and  Rhea. 

From  Louisiana-^-  Mr.  Butler. 

From  Mississippi — Mr.  Rankin. 

From  Alabama — Mr.  Crowell. 

An  able  writer  of  that  period  thus  pays  a  merited  tribute  to  those  rep- 
resentatives of  non-slaveholding  states,  who,  uninfluenced  by  sectional 
prejudice,  religious  fanaticism,  or  mistaken  philanthropy,  voted  for  the 
admission  of  Missouri  into  the  Union  without  restriction : 

"In  all,  eight  senators  and  fifteen  representatives,  who  have  offered  themselves  as 
sacrifices  upon  the  altar  of  public  good,  to  save  the  union  of  the  states,  and  to  pre- 
vent the  degradation  of  Missouri.  Their  generous  conduct  deserves  a  nation's  grati- 
tude ;  and  let  a  grateful  people  deliver  it  to  them.  Let  public  honors  wait  upon  their 
steps,  and  public  blessings  thicken  round  their  heads.  Let  Fame,  with  her  brazen 
trumpet,  from  the  summit  of  the  Alleghany,  proclaim  their  honored  names  throughout 
the  vast  regions  of  the  South  and  West." 

When  the  news  came  to  St.  Louis  that  Congress  had  determined  that 
the  people  of  Missouri  should  frame  their  own  constitution,  and  decide  for 
themselves  "slavery"  or  its  rejection,  the  minds  of  the  people  became 
fearfully  agitated  on  the  very  subject  which  threatened  such  serious  con- 
sequences at  Washington.  It  appeared  that  the  political  storm  had  not 
spent  its  fury,  and  had  passed  from  the  east  to  rage  with  violence  nearer 
the  western  horizon.  The  same  question  which  had  distracted  Congress, 
when  removed  to  Missouri  lost  none  of  its  exciting  qualities.  In  St. 
Louis,  from  its  being  the  largest  town  in  the  state,  and  consequently  the 
main  stage  where  the  political  drama  would  be  played,  the  inhabitants 
divided  themselves  into  two  great  factions — one  in  opposition  to  slavery, 
and  the  other  in  advocating  it.  Both  parties  selected  their  most  influen- 
tial members  to  form  a  ticket  to  be  elected  by  the  people  to  represent  St. 
Louis  county,  in  the  convention  that  was  to  form  the  constitution  of  the 
state.  The  following-named  gentlemen  were  announced  as  candidates 
representing  St.  Louis  county,  and  were  for  the  admission  of  Missouri  as 
a  slave  state. 

T.  F.  Riddick,  General  Wm.  Rector, 

Colonel  Alex.  M'Nair,  David  Barton, 

John  C.  Sullivan,  Edward  Bates, 

Wilson  P.  Hunt,  Alexander  Stuart,  Esq. 

Matthias  M'Girk. 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  323 

INDEPENDENT     TICKET. 
Opposed  to  the  further  introduction  of  Slaves  in  Missouri. 

FOR   CONVENTION. 

Judge  John  B.  C.  Lucas,  Robert  Simpson, 

Rufus  Pettibone,  Caleb  Bowles, 

Abraham  Peck,  William  Long, 

John  Bobb,  John  Brown. 

The  ticket  elected  July  19th,  1820,  for  representing  St.  Louis  county, 
were  all  gentlemen,  strong  proslavery  men.  Not  one  of  the  antislavery 
candidates  was  elected.  To  represent  St.  Louis  county  when  the  con- 
vention was  called  to  from  the  constitution,  the  choice  of  the  people 
rested  upon  the  following  gentlemen,  viz. :  Edward  Bates,  Colonel  Alex- 
ander M'Nair,  John  C.  Sullivan,  Pierre  Chouteau,  junior,  Bernard  Pratte 
and  Thomas  F.  Riddick;  and  in  the  framing  of  the  constitution  all  power 
was  taken  from  the  legislature  to  abolish  slavery,  unless  with  the  consent 
of  the  slaveholding  citizens,  or  a  full  remuneration  for  the  slaves. 

During  the  years  1820-1823,  St.  Louis  suffered  much  by  the  derange- 
ment of  her  currency.  The  banks  which  had  been  established  were 
broken,  and  the  loan  office,  which  came  into  existence  under  the  sanction 
of  state  authority,  whose  representatives  had  exceeded  their  powers,  soon 
lost  the  public  confidence,  and  its  paper  became  almost  a  drug  in  the 
market.  It  proved  but  of  little  good  to  the  community  when  it  did  an- 
swer the  purpose  of  purchasing  property  or  cancelling  debts,  and  in  its 
uncertain  value,  became  a  prey  to  ravenous  speculators,  who  did  all  they 
could  to  diminish  its  value,  that  they  might  purchase  it  at  a  greater 
discount. 

The  stay  laws  or  relief  laws  which  were  introduced  at  that  time,  so  as 
to  restrain  the  oppression  of  creditors  toward  debtors,  while  they  protected 
them  for  two  years  and  a  half  from  a  distraint  upon  their  property,  had, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  injurious  tendency  of  preventing  just  debts  from 
being  collected  in  a  reasonable  time,  thereby  crippling  the  resources  of 
the  creditor,  who,  oft  from  his  necessities,  would  frequently  compro- 
mise or  sell,  at  a  large  discount,  his  claim,  which  had  so  long  to  run  be- 
fore conversion  into  money.  These  drawbacks  operated  somewhat  upon 
the  growing  prosperity  of  the  town,  and  retarded  its  progress;  yet  still 
business  flourished,  and  population  increased. 

In  1821  there  was  a  little  directory  published  in  St.  Louis,  and  as  it 
gives  correct  and  useful  information  of  the  town  at  that  period,  we  will 
make  some  copious  extracts. 

"  It  is  but  about  forty  years  since  the  now  flourishing,  but  yet  more 
promising  state  of  Missouri  was  but  a  vast  wilderness,  many  of  the  in- 
habitants of  this  country  yet  remembering  the  time  when  they  met  to- 
gether to  kill  the  buffalo  at  the  same  place  where  Mr.  Philipson's  o/c  saw 
and  flour  mill  is  now  erected,  and  on  Mill  Creek,  near  to  where  Mr.  Chou- 
teau's  mill  now  stands.  What  a  prodigious  change  has  been  operated ! 
St.  Louis  is  now  ornamented  with  a  great  number  of  brick  buildings,  and 
both  the  scholar  and  the  courtier  could  move  in  a  circle  suiting  their 
choice  and  taste. 

"  By  the  exertions  of  the  Right  Reverend  Bishop  Louis  William  Do, 


324  THE   GREAT   WEST 


Bourg,  the  inhabitants  have  seen  a  fine  brick  cathedral  rise  at  the  same 
spot  where  stood  formerly  an  old.  log  church,  then  sufficient,  but  which 
now  would  scarcely  be  able  to  contain  the  tenth  part  of  the  Catholic  con- 
gregation. This  elegant  building  was  commenced  in  1818,  under  the 
superintendence  of  Mr.  Gabriel  Paul,  the  architect,  and  is  only  in  part 
completed.  As  it  now  stands  it  is  forty  feet  front  by  one  hundred  and 
thirty-five  in  depth,  and  forty  feet  in  height.  When  completed  it  will 
have  a  wing  on  each  side,  running  its  whole  length,  twenty-two  and  a  half 
feet  wide  and  twenty-five  in  height,  giving  it  a  front  of  eighty-five  feet. 
It  will  have  a  steeple  the  same  height  as  the  depth  of  the  building,  which 
will  be  provided  with  several  large  bells  expected  from  France.  The  lot 
on  which  the  church,  college  and  other  buildings  are  erected,  embraces  a 
complete  square,  a  part  of  which  is  used  as  a  burial  ground.  The  cathedral 
of  St.  Louis  can  boast  of  having  no  rival  in  the  United  States,  for  the 
magnificence,  the  vHalue  and  elegance  of  her  sacred  vases,  ornaments  and 
paintings,  and  indeed  few  churches  in  Europe  possess  any  thing  superior 
to  it.  It  is  a  truly  delightful  sight  to  an  American  of  taste,  to  find  in 
one  of  the  remotest  towns  of  the  Union  a  church  decorated  with  the 
original  paintings  of  Rubens,  Raphael,  Guido,  Paul  Veronese,  and  a  num- 
ber of  others  by  the  first  modern  masters  of  the  Italian,  French  and 
Flemish  schools.  The  ancient  and  precious  gold  embroideries  which  the 
St.  Louis  cathedral  possesses  would  certainly  decorate  any  museum  in  the 
world.  All  this  is  due  to  the  liberality  of  the  Catholics  of  Europe,  who 
presented  these  rich  articles  to  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  on  his  last  tour  through 
France,  Italy,  Sicily,  and  the  Netherlands.  Among  the  liberal  benefac- 
tors could  be  named  many  princes  and  princesses,  but  we  will  only  insert 
the  names  of  Louis  XVIII.,  the  present  king  of  France,  and  that  of  the 
Baroness  Le  Candele  de  Ghyseghem,  a  Flemish  lady,  to  whose  munifi- 
cence the  cathedral  is  particularly  indebted,  and  who,  even  lately,  has  sent 
it  a  fine,  large  and  elegant  organ,  fit  to  correspond  with  the  rest  of  the 
decorations.  The  bishop  possesses,  beside,  a  very  elegant  and  valuable 
library,  containing  about  8,000  volumes,  and  which  is,  without  doubt, 
the  most  complete  scientific  and  literary  repertory  of  the  western  country, 
if  not  of  the  western  world.  Though  it  is  not  public,  there  is  no  doubt 
but  the  man  of  science,  the  antiquary  and  the  linguist,  will  obtain  a  ready 
access  to  it,  and  find  the  bishop  a  man  endowed  at  once  with  the  elegance 
and  politeness  of  the  courtier,  the  piety  and  zeal  of  the  apostle,  and  the 
learning  of  a  Father  of  the  Church.  Connected  with  this  establishment 
is  the  St.  Louis  College,  under  the  direction  of  Bishop  du  Bourg.  It  is 
a  two-story  brick  building,  and  has  about  sixty-five  students,  who  are 
taught  the  Greek,  Latin,  French,  English,  Spanish  and  Italian  languages, 
mathematics,  elementary  and  transcendent,  drawing,  <fec.  There  are 
several  teachers.  Connected  with  the  college  is  an  ecclesiastical  semi- 
nary, at  the  Barrens,  in  St.  Genevieve  county,  where  divinity,  the  oriental 
languages  and  philosophy  arc  taught. 

"  St.  Louis  likewise  contains  ten  common  schools,  a  brick  Baptist 
church,  forty  feet  by  sixty,  built  in  1818,  and  an  Episcopal  church  of 
wood.  The  Methodist  congregation  hold  their  meetings  in  the  old  court- 
house, and  the  Presbyterians  in  the  circuit  court  room.  In  St.  Louis  are 
the  following  mercantile,  professional,  mechanical,  &c.,  establishments, 
viz.:  forty-six  mercantile  establishments,  which  carry  on  an  extensive 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  325 

trade  with  the  most  distant  parts  of  the  republic  in  merchandise,  produce, 
furs  and  peltry ;  three  auctioneers,  who  do  considerable  business :  each 
pays  8200  per  annum  to  the  state  for  a  license  to  sell,  and  on  all  personal 
property  sold  is  a  state  duty  of  three  per  cent.,  on  real  estate  one  and  a 
half  per  cent.,  and  their  commission  of  five  per  cent;  three  weekly  news- 
papers, viz.,  the  St.  Louis  Inquirer,  Missouri  Gazette  and  St.  Louis  Reg- 
ister, and  as  many  printing  offices;  one  book  store;  two  binderies; 
three  large  inns,  together  with  a  number  of  smaller  taverns  a<nd  boarding- 
houses;  six  livery  stables ;  fifty-seven  grocers  and  bottlers ;  twenty-seven 
attorneys  and  counsellors-at-law ;  thirteen  physicians  ;  three  druggists  and 
apothecaries;  three  midwives;  one  portrait  painter,  who  would  do  credit 
to  any  country ;  five  clock  and  watch  makers,  silversmiths  and  jewelers ; 
one  silver  plater;  one  engraver;  one  brewery,  where  are  manufactured 
beer,  ale  and  porter  of  a  quality  equal  to  any  in  the  western  country; 
one  tannery;  three  soap  and  candle  factories;  two  brick  yards;  three 
stonecutters ;  fourteen  bricklayers  and  plasterers ;  twenty-eight  carpen- 
ters; nine  blacksmiths;  three  gunsmiths;  two  copper  and  tinware  manu- 
facturers; six  cabinetmakers;  four  coachmakers  and  wheelwrights;  seven 
turners  and  chairmakers  ;  three  saddle  and  harness  manufacturers  ;  three 
hatters ;  twelve  tailors ;  thirteen  boot  and  shoe  manufacturers ;  ten  orna- 
mental sign  and  house  painters  and  glaziers ;  one  nail  factory ;  four  hair 
dressers  and  perfumers ;  two  confectioners  and  cordial  distillers ;  four 
coopers,  block,  pump  and  mast  makers;  four  bakers  ;  one  comb  factory; 
one  bellman;  five  billiard  tables,  which  pay  an  annual  tax  of  $100  each 
to  the  state,  and  the  same  sum  to  the  corporation;  several  hacks,  or 
pleasure  carriages,  and  a  considerable  number  of  drays  and  carts;  several 
professional  musicians,  who  play  at  the  balls,  which  are  very  frequent  and 
well  attended  by  the  inhabitants,  more  particularly  the  French,  who,  in 
general,  are  remarkably  graceful  perfbrmers,  and  much  attached  to  so 
rational,  healthy  and  improving  an  amusement ;  two  potteries  are  within 
a  few  miles,  and  there  are  several  promising  gardens  in  and  near  to  the 
town. 

"By  an  enumeration  taken  by  the  editor  of  this  work  in  May,  1821,  it 
appears  that  the  town  contains  the  following  number  of  dwelling-houses, 
viz. :  154  of  brick  and  stone  and  196  of  wood  in  the  north  part  of  the 
town,  and  78  of  brick  and  stone  and  223  of  wood  in  the  south  part; 
making  232  brick,  &c.,  and  419  of  wood,  and  a  total  of  651.  There  are, 
beside  the  dwelling-houses,  a  number  of  brick,  stone  and  wooden  ware- 
houses, stables,  shops  and  out-houses.  Most  of  the  houses  are  furnished 
with  gardens,  some  of  which  are  large  and  under  good  cultivation.  The 
large  old-fashioned  dwellings  erected  by  the  French  inhabitants  are  sur- 
rounded by  a  piazza,  which  renders  them  very  pleasant,  particularly 
during  the  heat  of  summer.  The  steamboat  warehouse  built  by  Mr. 
Josiah  Bright,  is  a  large  brick  building,  and  would  do  credit  to  any  of 
the  eastern  cities.  The  market-house  is  well  supplied  with  fish  and  fowl, 
good  meat  and  vegetables,  fruit  in  its  season,  and  in  short  every  thing 
that  the  country  affords,  in  abundance,  at  reasonable  prices. 

"  St.  Louis  was  incorporated  by  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  at  their 
November  term,  1809,  when  the  country  was  known  as  the  Territory  of 
Louisiana,  under  the  following  limits,  viz. :  'Beginning  at  Roy's  Mill,  on 
the  bank  of  the  Mississippi  river,  thence  running  sixty  arpens  west, 


326  THE   GREAT   WEST 


thence  south  on  said  line  of  sixty  arpens  in  the  rear,  until  the  same  comes 
to  the  Barriere  de  Noyer,  thence  due  south  until  it  comes  to  the  Sugar 
Loaf,  thence  due  east  to  the  Mississippi,  from  thence  by  the  Mississippi, 
along  low-water  mark,  to  the  place  first  mentioned.'  The  bounds  of  the 
town,  as  it  respects  the  taxing  of  the  inhabitants,  is  confined  to  the  fol- 
lowing bounds,  viz.:  commencing  at  the  mouth  of  Mill  creek  (where  it 
enters  the  Mississippi  river),  thence  with  the  said  creek  to  the  mill-dam, 
thence  with  the  north  arm  of  Mill  creek  to  the  head  of  the  same,  thence 
by  a  line  running  parallef  with  the  Mississippi  river,  until  it  intersects  the 
north  boundary  of  the  corporation. 

"  The  town  is  governed  by  five  trustees,  who  are  elected  on  the  6th  De- 
cember annually,  by  the  inhabitants.  There  is  also  a  register,  whose 
duty  it  is  to  see  that  the  ordinances  are  enforced,  an  assessor,  and  an  in- 
spector of  lumber. 

"The  Board  of  Trustees  has  passed  a  number  of  very  wholesome  ordi- 
nances for  the  establishment  and  support  of  order,  all  of  which  can  be 
seen  in  the  ordinance  book,  in  the  office  of  the  corporation,  South  B. 
street,  above  Main  street,  which  is  open  every  morning,  Sundays  excepted, 
from  ten  to  twelve  o'clock. 

"The  assessed  amount  of  taxable  property  in  the  corporation  of  St. 
Louis,  for  1821,  is  about  $940,926,  which  gives  about  $3,763,  tax. 

"Eight  streets  run  parallel  with  the  river,  and  are  intersected  by  twenty- 
three  others  at  right  angles  ;  three  of  the  preceding  are  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  town,  and  the  five  others  in  the  upper  part.  The  streets  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  town  are  narrow,  being  from  thirty-two  to  thirty-eight 
and  a  half  feet  in  width ;  those  streets  on  '  the  Hill,'  or  upper  part,  are 
much  wider.  'The  Hill'  is  much  the  most  pleasant  and  salubrious,  and 
•will  no  doubt  become  the  most  improved.  The  lower  end  of  Market 
street  is  well  paved,  and  the  trustees  of  the  town  have  passed  an  ordinance 
for  paving  the  sidewalks  of  Main  street,  being  the  second  from  and  par- 
allel to  the  river,  and  the  principal  one  for  business.  This  is  a  very  whole- 
some regulation  of  the  trustees,  and  is  the  more  necessary  as  this  and 
many  other  streets  are  sometimes  so  extremely  muddy  as  to  be  rendered 
almost  impassable.  It  is  hoped  that  the  trustees  will  next  pave  the  mid- 
dle of  Main  street,  and  that  they  will  proceed  gradually  to  improve  the 
other  streets,  which  will  contribute  to  make  the  town  more  healthy,  add 
to  the  value  of  property,  and  make  it  a  desirable  place  of  residence.  On 
the  Hill,  in  the  centre  of  the  town,  is  a  public  square,  two  hundred  and 
forty  by  three  hundred  feet,  on  which  it  is  intended  to  build  an  elegant 
court-house.  The  various  courts  are  held  at  present  in  buildings  adjacent 
to  the  public  square.  A  new  stone  jail  of  two  stories,  seventy  feet  front 
by  thirty  deep,  stands  west  of  the  site  for  the  court-house.* 

"Market  street  is  in  the  middle  of  the  town,  and  is  the  line  dividing 
the  north  part  from  the  south.  Those  streets  running  north  from  Market 
street  have  the  addition  of  North  to  their  names,  and  those  running 
in  the  opposite  direction,  South.  For  example:  North  Main  street, 


*  The  jail  lot  at  the  corner  of  South  and  Chesnut  streets  was  donated  to  the  county 
by  the  Honorable  John  B.  C.  Lucas.  The  court-house  square  was  the  gift,  conjointly, 
of  Colonel  Auguste  Chouteau  and  Judge  Lucas. 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  327 

South  Main  street,  North  A.  &c.,  street,  South  A.  street.  The  houses 
were  first  numbered  by  the  publisher  of  this  directory,  in  May,  1821. 

"The  fortifications,  erected  in  early  times  for  the  defence  of  the  place, 
stand  principally  on  'the  Hill.'  They  consist  of  several  circular  stone 
towers,  about  fifteen  feet  in  height  and  twenty  in  diameter,  a  wooden 
block-house,  and  a  large  stone  bastion,  the  interior  of  which  is  used  as  a 
garden  by  Captain  A.  Wetmore,  of  the  United  States  army.* 

"  Just  above  the  town  are  several  Indian  mounds  and*  remains  of  an- 
tiquity, which  afford  an  extensive  and  most  charming  view  of  the  town 
and  beautiful  surrounding  country,  situated  in  the  two  states  of  Missouri 
and  Illinois,  which  are  separated  by  the  majestic  Mississippi,  and  which 
is  likewise  observed  in  the  scene  as  he  glides  along  in  all  his  greatness. 
Adjacent  to  the  large  mound  nearest  to  the  town,  is  the  Mound  Gar- 
den, belonging  to  Colonel  Elias  Rector,  and  kept  by  Mr.  James  Gray,  as 
a  place  of  entertainment  and  recreation.  The  proprietor  has  displayed 
considerable  taste  in  laying  it  out  in  beds  and  walks,  and  in  ornamenting 
it  with  flowers  and  shrubbery.  In  short,  it  affords  a  delightful  and 
pleasant  retreat  from  the  noise,  heat  and  dust  of  a  busy  town. 

"There  is  a  Masonic  hall,  in  which  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  state  of 
Missouri,  the  Royal  Arch  and  the  Master  Masons'  Lodges  are  held.  Con- 
nected with  this  excellent  institution  is  a  burying-ground,  where^  poor 
Masons  are  interred  at  the  expense  of  the  fraternity.  The  council  cham- 
ber of  Governor  William  Clark,  where  he  gives  audience  to  the  chiefs  of 
the  various  tribes  of  Indians  who  visit  St.  Louis,  contains  probably  the 
most  complete  museum  of  Indian  curiosities  to  be  met  with  anywhere  in 
the  United  States ;  and  the  governor  is  so  polite  as  to  permit  its  being 
visited  by  any  person  of  respectability  at  any  time. 

"  There  are  two  fire  engines,  with  properly  organized  companies  ;  one 
of  which  is  in  the  north  part  of  the  town  and  the  other  in  the  south. 
Every  dwelling  and  store  has  to  be  provided  with  good  leather  fire 
buckets. 

"  Mr.  Samuel  Wiggins  is  the  proprietor  of  two  elegant  and  substantial 
steam  ferry-boats,  that  ply  regularly  and  alternately  from  the  bottom  of 
North  H.  street,  near  the  steamboat  warehouse,  to  the  opposite  shore. 
The  great  public  utility  of  this  mode  of  conveying  persons  and  property 
across  the  Mississippi  needs  no  comment,  but  gives  the  enterprising  owner 
of  them  a  high  claim  to  the  patronage  of  his  fellow-citizens.  The  river 
at  the  ferry  is  one  and  an  eighth  mile  in  width.  Opposite  the  upper  part 
of  the  town  and  above  the  ferry  is  an  island  about  one  mile  and  a  half  in 

*  These  old  fortifications  commenced  on  the  south  at  the  corner  of  Second  and 
Sycamore  streets,  where  one  stood  until  very  recently;  the  second  one  of  them,  a 
block-house  made  of  cedar  wood,  was  at  the  corner  of  Fifth  and  Lombard ;  another 
one,  a  tower,  corner  of  Fifth  and  Gratiot ;  another  was  the  Old  Tower,  the  Spanish  fort, 
and  the  oldest  fortification  in  the  place,  corner  of  Fourth  and  Walnut ;  another  where 
the  custom-house  now  stands,  at  the  corner  of  Third  and  Olive ;  another,  called  the 
Bastion,  on  Third  street,  between  Washington  avenue  and  Morgan  street ;  and  the 
last  one,  that  completed  the  half-circle  of  fortifications,  was  the  Demilune,  that  stood 
on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  on  a  rocky  elevation  near  the  foot  of  Cherry  street. 
With  the  exception  of  the  Tower,  on  Fourth  and  Walnut,  they  were  all  built  during 
the  administration  of  Cruzat.  Beck,  in  his  Gazetteer  of  Illinois  and  Missouri,  states 
that  a  portion  of  them  was  erected  in  1797,  but  there  is  no  evidence  to  support  this 
conclusion. 


328  THE   GREAT   WEST 


length,  containing  upwards  of  one  thousand  acres.  It  belongs  to  Mr. 
Samuel  Wiggins.  A  considerable  sandbar  has  been  formed  in  the  river, 
adjoining  the  lower  part  of  the  town,  which  extends  far  out,  and  has 
thrown  the  main  channel  over  on  the  Illinois  side;  when  the  water  is  low 
it  is  entirely  dry,  and  is  covered  with  an  immense  quantity  of  drift-wood, 
nearly  sufficient  to  supply  the  town  with  fuel,  and  only  costs  the  trouble 
of  cutting  and  hauling.  This  is  of  great  consequence  to  the  inhabitants 
of  St.  Louis,  particularly  as  the  growth  of  wood  is  small  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  on  this  side  of  the  river.  Wood  is  likewise  brought  down 
the  river  in  large  quantities  for  disposal. 

"Population  in  1810,  1,000;  in  1818,  3,500;  and  at  this  time  (1821), 
about  5,500.  The  town  and  county  contain  9,732.  The  population  is 
much  mixed;  consisting  principally  of  Americans  from  every  part  of  the 
Union;  the  original  and  other  French,  of  whom  there  are  one  hundred 
and  fifty-five  families ;  and  foreigners  of  various  nations ;  consequently  the 
society  is  much  diversified,  and  has  no  general  fixed  character.  This, 
the  reader  will  perceive,  arises  from  the  situation  of  the  country,  in  itself 
new,  flourishing  and  changing ;  still  that  class  who  compose  the  respect- 
able part  of  the  community  are  hospitable,  polite  and  well-informed.  And 
here  I  must  take  occasion,  in  justice  to  the  town  and  country,  to  protest 
against  the  many  calumnies  circulated  abroad  to  the  prejudice  of  St. 
Louis,  respecting  the  manners  and  the  disposition  of  the  inhabitants. 
Persons  meet  here  with  dissimilar  habits,  produced  by  a  different  education, 
and  possessing  various  peculiarities.  It  is  not  therefore  surprising  that,  in  a 
place  composed  of  such  discordant  materials,  there  should  be  occasional  dif- 
ferences and  difficulties.  But  the  reader  may  be  assured  that  old-established 
inhabitants  have  little  participation  in  transactions  which  have,  so  far,  so 
much  injured  the  town. 

"St.  Louis  has  grown  very  rapidly.  There  is  not,  however,  so  much 
improvement  going  on  at  this  time,  owing  to  the  check  caused  by  the 
general  and  universal  pressure  that  pervades  the  country.  This  state  of 
things  can  only  be  temporary  here,  for  it  possesses  such  permanent  ad- 
vantages from  its  local  and  geographical  situation,  that  it  must  ere  some 
distant  day,  become  a  place  of  great  importance,  being  more  central  with 
regard  to  the  whole  territory  belonging  to  the  United  States  than  any 
other  considerable  town,  and  uniting  the  advantages  of  the  three  great 
rivers  Mississippi,  Missouri  and  Illinois,  of  the  trade  of  which  it  is  the 
emporium. 

"  The  Missouri  Fur  Company  was  formed  by  several  gentlemen  of  St. 
Louis,  in  1819,  for  the  purpose  of  trading  on  the  Missouri  river  and  its 
waters.  The  principal  establishment  of  the  company  is  at  Council  Bluffs, 
yet  they  have  several  others  of  minor  consequence  several  hundred  miles 
above,  and  it  is  expected  that  the  establishment  will  be  extended  shortly 
up  as  high  as  the  Mandan  villages.  The  actual  capital  invested  in  the 
trade  is  supposed  to  amount  at  this  time  to  about  $70,000.  They  have  in 
their  employ,  exclusive  of  their  partners  on  the  river,  twenty-five  clerks 
and  interpreters  and  seventy  laboring  men. 

"It  is  estimated  that  the  annual  value  of  the  Indian  trade  of  the  Mis- 
souri and  Mississippi  rivers  is  $600,000.  The  annual  amount  of  imports 
to  this  town  is  stated  at  upwards  of  $2,000,000.  The  commerce  by  water 
is  carried  on  by  a  great  number  of  steamboats,  barges  and  keel  boats. 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  329 

These  centre  here,  after  performing  the  greatest  inland  voyages  known  in 
the  world.  The  principal  articles  of  trade  are  fur,  peltry  and  lead.  The 
agricultural  productions  are  Indian  corn,  wheat,  rye,  barley,  oats,  buck- 
wheat, tobacco  and  other  articles  common  to  the  western  country. 
Excellent  mill-stones  are  found  and  made  in  this  county;  stone  coal  is 
abundant,  and  saltpetre  and  common  salt  have  been  made  within  a  few 
miles.  Within  three  or  four  miles  are  several  springs  of  good  water,  and 
seven  miles  southwest  is  a  sulphur  spring.  In  the  vicinity  are  two  natural 
caverns,  in  limestone  rocks.  Two  miles  above  town,  at  North  St.  Louis, 
is  a  steam  sawmill,  and  several  common  mills  are  on  the  neighboring 
streams.  The  roads  leading  from  St.  Louis  are  very  good,  and  it  is  ex- 
pected that  the  great  national  turnpike  leading  from  Washington  will 
strike  this  place,  as  the  commissioners  for  the  United  States  have  reported 
in  favor  of  it." 

LIST    OF    PRINCIPAL    BUILDINGS    IN    ST.  LOUIS,  IN    1821. 

Baptist  Church,  south-west  corner  Market  and  Third.* 

Bastion,  north  of  Bennet's  Hotel. 

Cathedral,  Roman  Church,  south-west  corner  Church  and  Market. 

Clerks'  Offices  for  the  various  courts,  near  the  Public  Square. 

Constables'  Office,  north  Fourth  above  North  C.  street. 

Court  Rooms,  near  the  Public  Square. 

Episcopal  Church,  South  Church,  below  South  A.  street.f 

Green-Tree  Inn,  85  South  Church. 

Indian  Council  Chamber,  or  Museum  of  Indian  Curiosities,  belonging 
to  Governor  Clark,  101  North  Main. 

Jones'  Row,  north  side  of  Market  street,  above  Third.J 

Land  Office,  United  States,  west  of  and  near  to  Bennet's  Hotel. 

Mansion  House,  Bennet's,  north-east  corner  of  North  Third  and  E. 
streets. 

Market  House,  south  side  of  Market  street,  near  the  river. 

Market  street  runs  west  from  the  river,  between  North  and  South  A. 
streets.  It  is  the  line  which  divides  the  northern  part  of  the  town  from 
the  southern. 

Masonic  Hall,  in  which  the  Grand,  Chapter  and  Master's  Lodges  are 
held,  north  side  South  B.  street,  above  Main. 

Methodist  Meeting,  south-west  corner  South  Third  and  South  D. 
streets. 

Missouri  Bank,  6  North  Main  street. 

Missouri  Hotel,  south-west  corner  of  North  Main  and  North  H.  streets. 

Mound  Public  Garden,  a  pleasant  retreat  kept  by  Mr.  Gray,  near  the 
Indian  Mound. 


*  This  church  was  never  fully  completed,  though  worship  was  held  in  it.  It  was 
used  at  one  time  for  a  court-house,  and  on  its  site  was  afterward  built  the  National 
Hotel. 

•f-  This  was  an  old  wooden  building  where  Episcopal  service  was  held,  but  was  no 
church. 

J  This  was  the  first  row  of  brick  buildings  erected  in  St.  Louis.  They  were  of  one 
story. 


330  THE   GREAT   WEST 


Such  was  St.  Louis  in  1821,  just  before  the  season  of  emerging  from 
a  town  to  a  city  existence.  In  the  place  of  batteaux  and  unwieldy  barges, 
the  Mississippi  and  other  western  waters  have  become  freighted  with 
steamboats,  which  at  once  superseded  the  oar  and  the  cordelle.  This  new 
improvement  bringing  distant  points  in  close  connection,  and  facilitating 
every  avenue  of  trade,  to  St.  Louis,  steamboats,  from  the  hour  of  their 
advent,  became  invaluable,  and  so  great  was  their  acquisition  to  the  com- 
merce, that  in  despite  of  the  breaking  of  the  banks,  the  depreciation  of 
loan-office  money,  the  general  derangement  of  the  currency,  and  the  in- 
jurious operation  of  the  "  Stop  laws,"  they  gave  a  vitality  to  the  busi- 
ness current,  which  had  otherwise  stagnated  from  the  opposing  obstacles 
and  barriers. 

Agriculture,  after  Missouri  had  become  admitted  as  a  state,  began  to 
receive  considerable  attention ;  and  still  farther  to  increase  the  interest, 
a  meeting  was  held  in  the  town  of  St.  Louis,  in  May,  1822,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  organizing  an  agricultural  society.  At  this  meeting  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  draw  up  a  constitution  for  the  government  of  the  society, 
which  consisted  of  the  following  respectable  citizens,  viz.  :  Wm.  C.  Carr, 
Richard  Graham,  Robert  Simpson,  Joseph  C.  Brown  and  Henry  Watson. 
The  society  remained  in  existence  many  years,  and  did  much  for  the  im- 
provement of  agriculture.' 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  health  of  St.  Louis  at  this  early  period, 
if  the  number  of  deaths  be  a  criterion,  would  compare  very  favorably  with 
that  of  the  present  day,  when  the  city  is  subject  to  sanitary  laws,  and, 
from  cultivation  of  the  soil,  many  marshes  and  ponds  have  been  removed 
which  then  exhaled  poisonous  miasma.  The  number  of  interments,  from 
the  17th  of  March,  1822,  to  the  29th  of  October  of  the  same  year,  was 
one  hundred  and  three.  The  population  of  the  town  at  that  time  was 
four  thousand  and  eight  hundred  souls. 

1822 — On  the  ninth  of  December,  1822,  an  act  was  passed  by  the  Legis- 
lature of  Missouri,  to  incorporate  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  St.  Louis,  and 
in  April,  1823,  an  election  took  place  to  elect  the  mayor  and  nine  alder- 
men in  whom  the  act  specified  should  vest  the  corporate  powers  of  the 
city,  with  the  following  results :  Wm.  Carr  Lane  was  elected  mayor,  and 
Thomas  McKnight,  James  Kennerley,  Philip  Rocheblane,  Archibald  Gam- 
ble, Wm.  H.  Savage,  Robert  Nash,  James  Loper,  Henry  Von  Phuland  James 
Lacknan  were  elected  aldermen.  These  men  were  the  first  corporate  offi- 
cers of  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  The  city  was  then  divided  into  wards,  and  the 
mayor  and  aldermen  issued  an  ordinance  for  the  graduating  of  Main  street, 
and  compelling  the  inhabitants  to  pave  the  streets  in  front  of  their  lots.  The 
trustees  of  the  town,  previous  to  the  incorporation  of  the  city,  had  made 
two  or  three  futile  attempts  to  have  Main  street  paved  in  some  part  of  it, 
but  the  inhabitants,  with  but  few  exceptions,  neglected  to  comply  with 
the  decree,  and  it  was  not  until  the  town  became  incorporated  a  city  that 
any  regular  system  of  paving  the  streets  was  effectually  commenced. 
One  of  the  citizens,  just  at  the  time  of  incorporation  of  the  new  city, 
writes  to  a  friend  in  another  state  who  had  some  intention  of  coming  to 
St.  Louis,  not  to  come,  if  he  did  not  wish  to  live  "the  life  of  a  frog  or 
tortoise  in  the  unfathomable  mud  of  St.  Louis." 

The  administration  of  Wm.  Carr  Lane,  from  the  commencement,  was 
an  able  one.  Though  bis  salary  was  only  three  hundred  dollars  per  an- 


NORMAL  SCHOOL. 
Corner  of  17th  Street  and  Christy  Avenue. 


ST.  PAUL'S  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

Corner  of  17th  and  Olive  Streets. 

REV.  R.  E.  TERRY,  Rector. 


OLD  HOUSE. 
South-East  corner  of  2d  and  Spruce. 


OLD  HOUSE. 
North-West  corner  of  3d  and  Plum- 


1ST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  LUCAS  PLACE. 
RET.  HENRY  A.  NELSON,  Pastor. 


HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  331 

num,  he  applied  himself  earnestly  to  the  duties  of  his  office,  manifested  a 
zeal  and  judgment  which  are  inseparable  from  his  character,  and  soon  the 
city  was  under  proper  municipal  regulations.  It  was  divided  into  wards ; 
the  boundaries  of  the  streets  were  properly  established ;  assessors  and  health 
officers  appointed ;» and  the  graduating  of  a  large  portion  of  Main  street 
effected,  and  the  paving  of  it  by  the  inhabitants  rigidly  enforced,  or,  if 
done  by  the  commissioners,  the  cost  was  charged  to  those  in  front  of 
whose  property  the  paving  was  laid. 

14 


332  THE   GKEAT   WEST 


CHAPTER,     V. 

Duel  between  Thomas  C.  Rector  and  Joshua  Barton. — The  latter  killed. — Fur  com- 
panies.— Battle  with  the  Indians. — Disastrous  defeat  of  the  Whites. — Frederick 
Bates  elected  Governor. — Visit  of  Lafayette. — Route  surveyed  to  New  Mexico. — 
Consecration  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church. — General  Miller  elected  Governor. — 
Arsenal  built. — Streets  named. — Stampede  from  the  jail. — Market  built. — Benev- 
olent Societies. — Branch  Bank  of  the  United  States. — Improvements  and  changes  in 
St.  Louis. — Impeachment  of  Judge  Peck. — Population  in  1831. — Fatal  duel — Black 
Hawk  war. — Love  of  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  for  politics. — Conduct  of  the 
people  at  the  news  of  the  veto  to  the  rechartering  of  the  United  States  Bank. — The 
cholera. — Trial  of  Judge  Carr. — Judge  Merry  elected  mayor. — His  election  declared 
unconstitutional. — Building  of  a  hospital  for  the  Sisters  of  Charity. — Sale  of  the  city 
commons. — Gamblers. — Internal  Improvement  Convention. — Burning  of  a  negro 
murderer. 

1823. — On  the  30th  of  June,  a  hostile  meeting  took  place  on  Bloody 
Island,  between  Joshua  Barton,  who  was  district-attorney  of  the  United 
States  for  the  district  of  which  St.  Louis  was  the  capital,  and  Thomas  C. 
Rector.  It  was  nearly  sunset  when  the  parties  met,  and,  at  the  first  fire, 
Mr.  Barton  fell  mortally  wounded. 

The  cause  of  the  unfortunate  meeting  was  a  publication  in  the  Missouri 
Republican  of  an  article  accusing,  in  unmistakable  terms,  General  Wm. 
Rector,  the  United  States  Surveyor  of  Illinois,  Missouri  and  Arkansas,  of 
corruption  in  office.  General  Rector  was  at  the  time  in  Washington,  and 
his  brother,  Thomas  C.  Rector,  hearing  that  Mr.  Barton  was  the  author 
of  that  serious  charge,  challenged  him,  according  to  the  code  of  honor, 
whose  rules  it  was  imperative  at  that  time  for  all  gentlemen  to  obey,  with 
the  result  that  we  have  mentioned.  Both  of  the  families  were  large  and 
influential  in  St.  Louis,  with  an  extensive  circle  of  friends,  and  this  cir- 
cumstance added  fuel  to  the  already  political  feud  existing  between  them. 
Whether  the  charges  were  true,  as  alleged  by  Mr.  Barton,  we  cannot  satis- 
factorily determine,  and,  as  legal  proof  is  wanting,  it  would  not  be  con- 
sistent with  justice  to  give  utterance  to  any  hypothesis  deducible  from 
proximate  evidence.  It  is  probable  that  they  were  deducible  much  from 
political  rancor  and  factional  license.  Joshua  Barton  stood  in  the  front  rank 
of  his  profession,  and  was  brother  to  David  Barton,  then  senator  of  the 
United  States  from  Missouri.  He  died  universally  lamented. 

We  have  before  alluded  to  some  of  the  members  of  the  Missouri  Fur 
Company  and  other  enterprising  individuals  who,  in  quest  of  peitry,  made 
their  lone  and  far  voyages  up  the  wild  Missouri,  and  for  years  pursuing 
their  precarious  pursuit,  lived  in  wigwams  like  the  Indians,  thousands  of 
miles  from  civilization,  and  amid  the  wildest  and  fiercest  tribes  on  the 
American  continent.  Among  the  number  of  these  daring  spirits,  whom 
no  danger  could  daunt,  no  obstacles  arrest,  and  no  suffering  could  subdne, 
was  General  Wm.  Ashley.  He  became  the  head  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
Fur  Company,  pushed  his  enterprises  in  the  wild  fastnesses  of  those 


AND    HER    COMMERCIAL    METROPOLIS.  333 

mountains,  discovered  what  is  known  now  as  the  Great  Southern  Pass, 
and  made  known  to  the  world  those  distant  solitudes,  which  had  been 
before  unexplored.  Joined  with  him  was  Major  Henry,  equally  enter- 
prising and  intrepid. 

As  a  great  sensation  was  created  at  this  time  from  disastrous  news  from 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  it  becomes  our  province  now  to  report  a  bloody 
battle  which  took  place  between  the  Rocky  Mountain  Fur  Company  and 
the  Rickaree  Indians,  and  also  of  a  bloody  battle  between  the  Blackt'eet 
Indians  and  the  followers  of  the  Missouri  Fur  Company.  Both  of  the  fur. 
companies  were  defeated  by  the  savages.  The  two  following  letters  will 
best  explain  the  difficulty  and  the  events  of  the  battles. 

EXTRACT    FROM    A    LETTER   FROM    GENERAL    ASHLEY. 

"  On  board  the  Keelboat '  Rocky  Mountain,' 
June  4th,  1823. 

"On  the  morning  of  the  2d  instant  I  was  attacked  by  the  Rickaree  In- 
dians, which  terminated  seriously  on  my  part.  The  particulars  of  which 
I  relate  with  feelings  of  the  greatest  sorrow  and  mortification.  Previous 
to  my  arrival  at  their  towns,  from  information  1  received  from  some  gen- 
tlemen descending  the  river,  I  apprehended  danger  from  them,  and  used 
as  much  precaution  as  the  nature  of  my  situation  would  admit.  Not 
one  of  the  Rickaree  Indians  did  I  see  until  I  arrived  at  their  towns  on  the 
30th  of  May.  My  boats  were  anchored  about  the  middle  of  the  river, 
and  I  went  on  shore  with  two  men,  where  I  met  some  of  the  principal 
chiefs,  who  pretended  to  be  very  friendly  disposed  toward  us,  and  ex- 
pressed a  wish  that  I  should  trade  with  them. 

"  Wishing  to  send  a  party  through  by  land  from  that  point  to  the 
Yellow  Stone  river,  for  which  purpose  forty  or  fifty  horses  were  necessary, 
and  having  just  received  an  express  from  Major  Henry,  sent  for  the  pur- 
pose of  desiring  me  to  purchase  all  the  horses  I  could  on  my  way,  I  con- 
sented to  send  some  goods  on  shore  to  exchange  for  horses,  but  proposed 
that  the  chiefs  of  the  two  towns  would  meet  me  on  the  sand  beach,  where 
a  perfect  understanding  should  take  place  before  the  barter  commenced. 
After  a  long  consultation  among  them,  they  appeared  at  the  place  pro- 
posed, to  hold  the  talk.  I  made  them  a  small  present,  which  appeared  to 
please  them  very  much.  I  then  told  them  that  I  had  understood  that  a 
difference  had  taken  place  between  a  party  of  their  men  and  some  of  the 
Missouri  Fur  Company,  that  in  consequence  of  which  they  might  feel 
disposed  to  do  me  an  injury,  and  went  on  to  state  what  I  supposed 
would  be  the  consequences  should  they  attempt  it.  They  answered  that 
the  affray  alluded  to  had  caused  angry  feelings  among  them,  but  that 
those  angry  feelings  had  vanished — that  they  then  considered  the  white 
people  as  their  friends,  and  would  treat  them  as  such. 

"A  price  for  horses  was  proposed  by  me  and  agreed  to  by  them. 
The  exchange  therefore  commenced,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  15th 
instant  I  had  completed  my  purchases,  and  all  things  prepared  for  an  early 
start  the  next  morning.  Late  in  the  afternoon  the  principal  chief  of  one 
of  the  towns  sent  rne  an  invitation  to  visit  him  at  his  lodge.  I  hesitated 
for  a  moment,  but  at  length  concluded  to  accept  it,  as  I  did  not  wish 
them  to  know  that  I  apprehended  the  least  danger  from  them.  I  took 


334  THE   GREAT   WEST 


with  me  my  interpreter,  and  went  to  the  lodge  of  the  chief,  where  I 
was  treated  with  every  appearance  of  friendship  by  him,  as  well  as  by 
several  other  chiefs  who  were  present.  The  next  morning,  just  before 
daybreak,  I  was  informed  that  the  Indians  had  killed  one  of  my  men, 
Aaron  Stephens,  and  in  all  probability  would  attack  the  boats  in  a  few 
minutes.  Arrangements  were  made  to  receive  them.  My  party  con- 
sisted of  ninety  men,  forty  of  whom  were  selected  to  accompany  me  to 
the  Yellowstone  River  by  land,  and  were  •encamped  on  the  sand-beach 
in  charge  of  the  horses. 

"About  sunrise,  the  Indians  commenced  a  heavy  and  well-directed 
fire  from  a  line  extending  along  the  picketing  of  one  of  their  towns  and 
some  broken  ground  adjoining,  a  distance  of  about  six  hundred  yards. 
Seeing  that  some  of  the  horses  were  killed  and  others  wounded,  as  well 
as  two  or  three  men,  1  attempted  to  have  the  horses  crossed  to  a  sand- 
bar about  the  middle  of  the  river,  over  which  the  water  was  about 
three  feet  deep,  but  before  any  thing  to  effect  that  object  could  be  done 
the  fire  became  very  destructive,  aimed  principally  at  the  men  on  shore. 
I  ordered  the  anchor  weighed  and  the  boats  put  to  shore,  but  the  boat- 
men, with  but  very  few  exceptions,  were  so  panic-struck  that  they  could 
not  be  got  to  execute  the  order.  Two  skiffs  which  would  carry  thirty 
men  were  taken  ashore  for  the  embarkation  of  the  men,  but  (I  suppose), 
from  a  predetermination  of  the  men  on  the  beach  not  to  give  way  to  the 
Indians  as  long  as  there  appeared  the  least  probability  of  keeping  their 
ground,  not  more  than  five  of  them  made  use  of  the  large  skiff,  two  of 
whom  were  wounded,  the  other  skiff  was  taken  to  the  opposite  side  of 
the  river  by  two  men,  one  of  them  mortally  wounded. 

"  I  started  the  large  skiff  immediately  back,  but  unfortunately  one  of 
the  men  that  worked  it  was  shot  down,  and  by  some  means  the  skiff  set 
adrift ;  by  this  time  the  most  of  the  horses  were  killed  or  wounded,  and 
about  half  of  the  men.  I  continued  to  make  every  effort  to  get  the  boats 
to  shore  but  all  in  vain ;  although  anchored  not  more  than  ninety  feet  out 
in  the  stream  the  most  of  the  men  swam  to  the  boats  ;  some  of  them  when 
shot  immediately  sprang  into  the  river  and  sunk.  It  was  about  fifteen 
minutes  from  the  time  the  firing  commenced  until  the  surviving  part  of 
the  men  had  embarked.  The  anchor  of  one  of  the  boats  was  weighed, 
the  cable  of  the  other  cut,  and  the  boats  dropped  down  the  stream. 
Finding  it  impossible  to  pass  the  towns  in  the  then  situation  of  the  men 
and  boats,  I  directed  them  to  be  landed  at  the  first  timber,  for  the  purpose 
of  placing  them  and  the  men  in  a  better  situation  of  defence,  and  to  pass 
the  towns,  which  would  have  been  done  without  much  risk  ;  but,  to  my  great 
surprise  and  mortification,  when  my  intentions  were  made  known  to  the 
men  I  was  informed  that  (with  but  few  exceptions)  they  would  desert  me 
if  1  attempted  it,  and  that  however  well  the  boats  might  be  fortified  they 
would  not  make  a  second  attempt  to  pass  without  a  large  reinforcement. 

"The  next  morning  they  were  drawn  up,  and  a  plan,  which  I  had  dur- 
ing the  night  thought  of,  by  which  I  supposed  we  could  safely  pass  the 
towns,  made  known  to  them,  but  the  principal  part  of  them  refused  to 
assist  me  in  its  execution,  consequently  I  had  to  fall  back  to  where  we 
could  get  some  game  and  wait  the  aid  of  Major  Henry's  party  at  the 
Yellowstone  River,  to  whom  I  sent  an  express. 

"  My  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  is  as  follows : 


AND   HEK   COMMERCIAL   METKOPOLIS.  335 

"  Killed — John  Matthews,  John  Collins,  Aaron  Stephens,  James  McDaniel, 
Westley  Piper,  George  Flager,  Benjamin  F.  Sneed,  James  Penn,  jr.,  John 
Miller,  John  S.  Gardner,  Ellis  Ogle,  David  Howard — Twelve. 

u  Wounded — Reed  Gibson  (since  dead),  Joseph  Monsa,  John  Larrison, 
Abraham  Ricketts,  Robert  Tucker,  Joseph  Thompson,  Jacob  Miller,  David 
McClane,  Hugh  Glass,  Auguste  Dufrain,  Willis  (black  man) — jEleven. 

"  There  are  but  two  of  the  wounded  in  the  least  danger  of  dying,  and 
I  think  with  care  they  will  recover.  Never  did  men,  in  my  opinion,  act 
with  more  coolness  and  bravery  than  the  most  of  those  exposed  on  the 
sand-beach.  A  constant  fire  was  kept  up  by  us,  but  from  the  advantage- 
ous situation  of  the  Indians  but  little  execution  by  it  was  done.  Five  or 
six  Indians  were  seen  to  fall  on  the  sand-beach ;  I  suppose  they  lost  six 
or  eight  killed.  The  situation  of  their  towns,  numbers,  arms,  etc.,  makes 
th'em  a  formidable  enemy  to  traders  ascending  the  river.  Their  two  towns 
are  situated  immediately  in  front  of  a  large  sand-bar,  around  which  boats 
are  obliged  to  pass,  forming  nearly  a  quarter  or  one-third  of  a  circle, 
with  a  diameter  of  a  half  mile,  partly  covered  with  willows  near  the  water's 
edge ;  at  the  upper  part  of  the  bar  they  have  a  breastwork  made  of  dry 
timber.  The  ground  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  about  half-way 
round  the  sand-beach,  is  from  twelve  to  twenty  feet  above  the  surface  of 
the  water,  the  balance  of  the  way  high  broken  hills  and  the  river  very 
narrow.  They  are  about  six  hundred  warriors ;  I  think  about  three- 
fourths  of  them  are  armed  with  London  fusils  that  carry  a  ball  with  great 
accuracy  and  force,  and  which  they  use  with  as  much  expertness  as  any 
men  I  ever  saw  handle  arms ;  those  that  have  not  guns  use  bows  and 
arrows,  war-axes,  etc.  Knowing  that  some  of  the  trading  companies  in- 
tended passing  the  Ricarees  this  summer,  and  apprehending  danger,  will 
probably  bring  up  one  or  more  six-pounders,  I  expect  and  hope  they  will 
arrive  about  the  time  I  receive  aid  from  above." 

"PORT  ATKINSON,  July  3,  1823. 

"DEAR  SIR. — How  painful  for  me  to  tell,  and  you  to  hear,  of  the  bar- 
barity of  the  Indians.  They  continue  to  deceive  and  murder  the  most 
enterprising  of  our  people,  and  if  we  continue  to  forbear,  if  we  do  not 
soon  discover  a  greater  spirit  of  resentment,  this  river  will  be  discolored 
with  our  blood. 

"  The  defeat  of  General  Ashley  by  the  A'Ricarees,  and  departure  of  the 
troops  to  his  relief,  had  scarcely  gone  to  you  when  an  express  arrived  an- 
nouncing the  defeat  of  the  Blackfoot  Indians,  near  the  Yellowstone  River, 
of  the  Missouri  Fur-Company's  Yellowstone  or  mountain  expedition,  com- 
manded by  Messrs.  Jones  &  Immell,  both  of  whom,  with  five  of  the  men, 
are  among  the  slain.  All  of  their  property,  to  the  amount  of  $15,000,  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

"To  add  to  General  Ashley's  catalogue  of  misfortunes,  the  Blackfoot 
Indians  have  recently  defeated  a  party  of  eleven  and  killed  four  of  Major 
Henry's  men,  near  his  establishment  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone 
River.  The  express  goes  on  to  state,  '  that  many  circumstances  (of  which 
I  will  be  apprised  in  a  few  days)  have  transpired  to  induce  the  belief  that 
the  British  traders  (Hudson's  Bay  Company)  are  exciting  the  Indians 
against  us,  either  to  drive  us  from  that  quarter,  or  reap,  with  the  Indians, 
the  fruits  of  our  labor. ,' 


336  THE   GREAT   WEST 


"I  was  in  hopes  that  the  British  traders  had  some  bounds  to  their 
rapacity;  I  was  in  hopes  that  during  the  late  Indian  war,  in  which  they 
were  so  instrumental  in  the  indiscriminate  massacre  of  our  people,  that 
they  had  become  completely  satiated  with  our  blood,  but  it  appears  not 
to  have  been  the  case.  Like  the  greedy  wolf,  not  yet  gorged  with  the 
flesh,  they  guard  over  the  bones ;  they  ravage  our  fields,  and  are  unwilling 
that  we  should  glean  them,  although  barred  by  the  treaty  of  Ghent  from 
participating  in  our  Indian  trade,  they  presumed  and  are  not  satisfied  to 
do  so  ;  but,  being  alarmed  at  the  individual  enterprise  of  our  people,  they 
are  exciting  the  Indians  against  them.  They  furnish  them  with  the  in- 
struments of  hell  and  a  passport  to  heaven — the  instruments  of  death  and 
a  passport  to  our  bosoms. 

"Immell  had  great  experience  of  the  Indian  character,  but,  poor  fellow, 
•with  a  British  passport,  they  at  last  deceived  him,  and  he  fell  a  victim 'to 
his  own  credulity,  and  his  scalp,  with  those  of  his  murdered  comrades,  is 
now  bleeding  on  its  way  to  some  of  the  Hudson  establishments. 

"  Another  of  General  Ashley's  wounded  men  is  dead,  making  fifteen 
men  killed  by  the  A'Ricarees  and  eleven  by  the  Blackfoot — in  all,  known 
to  have  been  killed  b}T  the  Indians  within  the  last  two  or  three  months, 
twenty-six  effective  men ;  and  I  estimate  the  amount  of  property  actually 
lost  in  the  conflicts,  at  $20,000,  besides  a  great  number  of  horses,  etc. 

"The  Ottoes,  Missouris,  Omahas,  and  Panis  have  been  to  see  me  al- 
ready, and,  as  usual,  profess  great  friendship,  etc.,  but,  with  the  rest  of 
the  neighboring  tribes,  are  anxiously  looking  and  listening  to  know  how 
we  (the  Americans)  are  going  to  get  out  of  this  scrape. 

"  I  am  still  in  bad  health,  and  almost  despair  of  recovering  during  my 
stay  here. 

"  I  am  at  this  moment  interrupted  by  the  arrival  of  an  express  from  the 
military  expedition,  with  a  letter  from  Dr.  Pilcher,  whom  you  know  is  at 
the  head  of  the  Missouri  Fur-Company  on  this  river,  in  which  he  says, 
4 1  have  but  a  moment  to  write.  I  met  an  express  from  the  Mandans, 
bringing  me  very  unpleasant  news — the  flower  of  my  business  is  gone. 
My  mountaineers  have  been  defeated,  and  the  chiefs  of  the  party  both 
slain  ;  the  party  were  attacked  by  three  or  four  hundred  Blackfoot  Indians, 
in  a  position  on  the  Yellowstone  River,  where  nothing  but  defeat  could 
be  expected.  Jones  &  Iminell  and  five  men  were  killed.  The  former,  it 
is  said,  fought  most  desperately.  Jones  killed  two  Indians,  and  in  drawing 
his  pistol  to  kill  a  third,  he  received  two  spears  in  his  breast.  Iminell  was 
in  front;  he  killed  one  Indian  and  was  cut  to  pieces.  I  think  we  lose  at 
least  $15,000.  I  will  write  you  more  fully  between  this  and  the  Sioux.' 

"  Jones  was  a  gentleman  of  cleverness.  He  was  for  several  years  a 
resident  of  St.  Louis,  where  he  has  numerous  friends  to  deplore  his  loss. 
Immell  has  been  a  long  time  on  this  river,  first  an  officer  in  the  United 
States  army,  since  an  Indian  trader  of  some  distinction;  in  some  respects 
he  was  an  extraordinary  man;  he  was  brave,  uncommonly  large,  and  of 
great  muscular  strength  ;  when  timely  apprised  of  his  danger,  a  host  within 
himself.  The  express  left  the  military  expedition  on  the  1st  instant,  when 
all  was  well.  With  great  respect,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  BEN.  O'FALLON, 

"GENERAL  WILLIAM  CLARK,  "  U.  S.  Agent  for  Indian  Affairs. 

"  Supt.  Indian  Affairs,  St.  Louis? 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  337 

While  speaking  of  men  whose  daring  instincts  carried  them  amid  the 
savages  and  their  wilds,  and  who  acted  as  the  pioneers  of  civilization,  and 
to  whose  hardihood  their  country  was  indebted  for  effectual  aid  in  making 
treaties  with  the  distant  tribes  of  Indians,  and  the  strong  power  which 
many  of  them  exercised  over  their  savage  nature,  we  should  not  pass  over 
the  name  of  Benjamin  O'Fallon  without  paying  some  deserved  tribute  to 
his  many  virtues  and  services.  He  was  many  years  Indian  agent  of 
government,  and  in  all  his  transactions  with  the  various  tribes  his  conduct 
was  conciliatory  though  firm,  and  in  his  long  term  of  public  service  there 
was  no  room  even  for  envy  to  asperse  his  character. 

1824. — In  the  summer  of  this  year  the  city  of  St.  Louis  was  the  theatre 
of  considerable  excitement.  The  term  of  Governor  Alexander  McNair  being 
about  to  transpire,  two  candidates,  each  urging  powerful  claims  upon  the 
public,  and  each  champion  of  their  respective  parties,  was  nominated  for 
the  executive  office.  They  were  Frederick  Bates  and  General  William 
Ashley.  The  former  had  already  filled  many  high  positions  under  both 
the  territorial,  state  and  the  municipal  authorities,  among  which  was  that 
of  lieutenant-governor,  and  consequently  all  of  the  duties  of  the  executive 
were  familiar  to  him ;  besides,  he  had  been  long  a  resident  in  St.  Louis, 
and  was  known  to  all  classes  of  society  and  justly  had  their  confidence. 
The  other,  by  his  daring  intrepidity  in  pushing  trade  into  the  unknown 
wilds  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  had  carried  the  knowledge  of  the  United 
States  into  regions  unexplored,  and  by  his  ability  awed  the  savage  denizens, 
and  opened  new  fields  of  profitable  labor  to  courage  and  enterprise.  These 
services  had  invested  his  character  with  some  of  the  rays  of  heroic  and 
romantic  splendor  which  his  friends  fondly  hoped  would  attach  favor  and 
outweigh  the  influence  which,  from  long  residence  and  deserved  popularity, 
his  rival  possessed.  At  this  election  for  governor  was  also  that  of  lieu- 
tenant-governor, members  of  Congress,  of  state  Senate,  House  of  Dele- 
gates, sheriff,  and  constable. 

After  due  returns  from  the  different  parts  of  the  state,  Frederick  Bates 
was  declared  duly -elected,  John  K.  Walker,  sheriff,  and  Sullivan  Blood, 
constable.  With  the  other  elections  it  is  not  our  province  in  this  work 
to  meddle. 

Frederick  Bates  enjoyed  but  a  short  time  his  political  victory.  The 
following  year,  after  a  few  months  being  invested  with  his  official  dignity, 
he  was  attacked  by  pleurisy  and  died,  August  1st,  of  the  following 
year. 

1825. — It  was  the  28th  of  April  of  this  year,  that  the  news  of  the 
arrival  of  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette  at  Carondelet  reached  St.  Louis. 
He  stayed  at  that  village  during  the  night,  and  early  the  next  morning 
embarked  for  St.  Louis,  only  four  miles  distant.  Half  of  the  city  was 
turned  out  on  the  occasion,  and  as  the  gallant  French  nobleman  stepped 
ashore  from  the  boat,  which  landed  opposite  the  old  Market  House,  he 
received  the  applauding  greeting  of  gratified  thousands,  to  whom  his  name 
had  been  endeared  by  the  instructive  pages  of  history,  and  still  more  by 
the  early  reminiscences  gleaned  from  the  fireside.  The  name  of  Lafayette 
— for  many  years  a  household  word,  and  familiar  to  the-  lips  of  infancy. 

It  was  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  the  marquis  arrived  in  St. 
Louis,  and  he  was  immediately  ushered  into  a  carriage,  into  which  he  was 
followed  by  his  honor  the  mayor,  William  Carr  Lane,  Stephen  Hempstead, 


338  THE   GREAT   WEST 


an  officer  of  the  Revolution,  and  Colonel  Auguste  Chouteau,  the  chief  in 
command  of  the  pioneer  band  who  laid  the  foundation  of  the  city. 

General  Lafayette  was  at  this  time  sixty-eight  years  of  age,  yet  his  step 
betrayed  no  feebleness,  and  his  eye  was  still  vivid  with  the  fire  of  youth. 
He  was  accompanied  by  his  son,  George  Washington  Lafayette,  and  that 
name,  so  dear  to  the  American  people,  gave  new  warmth  to  the  reception 
of  the  French  hero,  and  invested  him  with  a  species  of  idolatry.  He  had 
likewise  a  small  private  suite  accompanying  him,  and  was  attended  by  an 
escort  of  distinguished  gentlemen  who  had  accompanied  him  from  the 
South.  He  was  the  guest  of  the  city,  and  just  before  dinner  paid  a  visit 
to  General  William  Clark,  the  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  and  was 
much  pleased  with  the  curiosities  of  an  Indian  museum  which  that  gentle- 
man had  collected  during  his  constant  communication  with  the  tribes  of  the 
Missouri  and  the  Mississippi.  In  the  evening  there  was  a  splendid  ball 
given  him  at  the  Mansion  House,  followed  by  a  supper.*  There  was  a 
universal  turnout  of  the  elite  of  the  city,  and  every  social  requisition  called 
into  being  that  might  serve  as  auxiliary  in  giving  evidence  of  grateful  re- 
spect to  this  distinguished  guest. 

On  the  next  morning  the  marquis  left  for  Kaskaskia,  being  escorted  to 
the  boat  by  crowds  of  citizens,  who  cheered  him  again  and  again  as  the 
boat  left  the  shore,  and  lingered  a  long  time  watching  its  progress  as  it 
cleaved  its  way  on  the  downward  course  of  the  "  Father  of  Waters." 

In  this  year  the  first  move  was  commenced  to  survey  a  road  across 
the  plains,  that  a  direct  trade  should  spring  up  with  Mexico.  In  June, 
Major  Sibley,  who  was  one  of  the  commissioners  appointed  by  government, 
set  out  from  St.  Louis,  accompanied  by  the  surveyor,  Mr.  Joseph  C.  Brown, 
the  secretary,  Captain  Gamble,  with  seven  wagons,  for  the  purpose  of 
trading  with  the  tribes  of  Indians  on  the  route,  and  fully  to  survey  the 
most  direct  road  to  Santa  Fe;  and  this  route  afterward  became  the  great 
highway  of  the  Santa  Fe  trade. 

It  was  June  26th,  1825,  that  the  first  Presbyterian  church  was  conse- 
crated by  the  Rev.  Salmon  Giddings,  of  St.  Louis.  It  was  the  first  temple 
which  the  Presbyterians  had  erected  in  the  city  for  the  purposes  of  wor- 
ship, and  it  was  a  jubilee  for  the  followers  of  that  creed,  when  they 
witnessed  the  dedication  of  their  church,  in  which  they  could  assemble 
according  to  their  religious  observances.  Previous  to  this  time  the  meet- 
ings were  held  in  the  Circuit  Court  room. 

After  the  demise  of  Governor  Bates  before  his  term  of  office  had  ex- 
pired, there  were  several  candidates  for  the  executive  office,  among  the 
most  prominent  of  whom  were  General  John  Miller,  Judge  David  Todd, 
William  C.  Carr,  and  Colonel  Rufus  Easton.  The  two  former  had  some 
military  renown,  and  did  their  country  service  in  the  war  of  1812.  After 
an  exciting  political  campaign,  in  which  the  antecedents  of  all  three  of  the 
candidates  were  thoroughly  brought  before  the  public,  and  were  garbled, 
misrepresented,  eulogized  or  idolized,  as  friends  or  enemies  discoursed  upon 
them,  General  Miller  was  elected  governor,  and  Colonel  B.  H.  Reeves 
lieutenant-governor. 

1826. — There  was  an  ordinance  passed  by  the  city  authorities  for  the 

*  The  Mansion  House  was  at  that  time  the  elite  hotel,  and  was  situated  oa  the 
north-east  corner  of  Third  and  Market  street. 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  339 

building  of  a  court-house,  which  was  immediately  commenced ;  an  act 
was  also  passed  by  Congress  for  the  erection  of  an  arsenal  somewhere  near 
St.  Louis.  Some  time  in  1827,  the  arsenal  was  commenced,  but  it  was 
many  years  after  before  the  buildings  connected  with  it  were  completed. 
The  arsenal  was  situated  a  few  blocks  from  the  river,  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  city — the  spot  it  still  occupies.  There  was  also  an  ordinance  passed 
by  the  mayor  and  aldermen  for  the  naming  of  the  streets,  and  those  streets 
were  at  that  time  baptized  with  the  appellations  by  which  we  now  know 
them.  All  their  names  were  changed,  with  the  exception  of  Market  street, 
of  those  running  westwardly.* 

In  September  of  this  year,  the  jail  of  the  town  was  broken  open  by 
the  prisoners  who  were  confined  therein,  and  among  the  number  John 
Brewer,  who  was  to  have  been  hung  the  day  following,  escaped.  He 
had  been  convicted  of  perjury,  in  a  capital  case,  and  the  punishment  for 
that  offence,  at  that  period,  was  death  ;  most  of  the  other  prisoners  were 
captured,  but,  with  the  gallows  as  a  phantom  before  him,  he  made  good 
his  escape.  In  that  year  was  also  organized  the  Missouri  and  Illinois  Tract 
Society. 

1827. — Ordinances  were  passed  by  the  mayor  and  aldermen  for  bor- 
rowing money  for  the  erection  of  a  market  and  town-house  on  the  public 
square,  between  Market  and  Walnut  streets,  and  fronting  the  river,  which 
under  the  Spanish  domination  was  called  Place  d'armes.  The  first  market 
which  had  been  erected  had  become  entirely  too  small  for  the  wants  of  the 
city.  An  ordinance  was  also  passed  for  the  grading  and  paving  of  Chest- 
nut and  Olive  streets  from  Front  street  to  the  river,  and.  also  paving  those 
streets  from  Main  to  Fourth ;  and  also  Vine  street  from  Main  to  Front. 
It  was  during  this  year  that  the  Missouri  Hibernia  Relief  Society  was 
organized  by  the  enterprising  and  benevolent  resident  Irishmen  of  the  city. 
The  purpose  of  this  society  was  "  to  relieve  those  distressed  by  want  in 
their  native  land,  and  to  assist  those  who  wished  to  emigrate  to  our 
shores."  James  C.  Lynch  was  the  first  president  of  the  society,  and 
William  Pigott  secretary .f 

1828. — The  St.  Louis  Auxiliary  American  Colonization  Society  was 
formed,  and  the  following  gentlemen  were  its  first  efficient  officers : 
President,  Hon.  William  C.  Qarr;  Vice-Presidents,  Colonel  John  O'Fallon, 
Hon.  James  H.  Peck,  Dr.  William  Carr  Lane,  Edward  Bates,  Esq. ;  Man- 
agers, Theodore  Hunt,  Edward  Charless,  Henry  S.  Geyer,  Charles  S. 
Hempstead,  Thomas  Cohen,  Robert  Wash,  H.  L.  Hoffman,  John  Smith, 
Joseph  C.  Laveille,  Salmon  Giddings,  John  H.  Gay,  John  M.  Peck ;  Cor- 
responding Secretary,  Josiah  Spalding;  Recording  Secretary,  D.  Hough .; 
Treasurer,  H.  Von  Phul.  During  this  year,  Hugh  King,  a  soldier  in  the 
United  States  army,  was  executed  for  killing  the  sergeant  of  his  company. 

*  From  1809  to  this  time,  all  the  streets  running  west,  with  the  exception  of  Market 
street,  were  known  by  letters.  Market  street  was  the  standing  line  between  north  and 
south,  and  the  next  streets  on  either  side  were  termed  North  A  and  South  A,  and  then 
the  successive  streets  according  to  alphabetical  enumeration  were  named. 

Previous  to  1809,  all  the  streets  of  the  town  went  by  their  primitive  French  appel- 
lations. A  reference  to  a  map  attached  to  this  work  will  give  all  necessary  information 
on  this  point. 

f  There  had  been  a  society  formed  before,  as  early  as  1818,  for  the  same  purpose, 
but  it  died  almost  cotemporaneously  with  its  organization. 


34:0  THE   GREAT   WEST 


1829. — Daniel  D.  Page  was  elected  mayor,  and  the  work  of  grading 
and  paving  the  streets  progressed  rapidly.  Seventh  street  was  extended 
to  the  northern  boundary  of  the  city ;  Fourth  street  was  ordered  to  be 
surveyed  from 'Market  to  Lombard  street,  and  Second  street  was  graded 
and  paved  between  Olive  and  Vine  streets.  Locust  street  was  also 
graded  and  paved,  from  the  western  side  of  Main  street  to  the  western 
side  of  Fourth  street.  In  August  of  that  year,  General  John  Miller  was 
again  elected  governor  of  the  state,  and  so  popular  was  he,  even  in  the 
adverse  political  party,  that  there  was  no  opposing  candidate.  Samuel 
Perry  was  elected  at  the  same  time  lieutenant-governor,  and  achieved  his 
political  victory  over  his  opponent  by  only  four  votes.  Dr.  Robert  Simp- 
son was  again  elected  sheriff  of  the  city,  largely  beating  his  opponent, 
Frederick  Hyatt. 

The  Branch  Bank  of  the  United  States  was  also  established  during  this 
year,  in  St.  Louis.  The  officers  appointed  to  preside  over  the  institution 
were  Colonel  John  O'Fallon,  president,  Henry  S.  Coxe,  cashier,  George 
K.  McGunnegle,  clerk,  and  Thomas  O.  Duncan,  teller.  The  first  board  of 
directors  were  William  Clark,  Thomas  Biddle,  Peter  Lindell,  William  H. 
Ashley,  John  Mullanphy,  George  Collier,  James  Clemens,  Jr.,  Matthew 
Kerr,  Pierre  Chouteau,  Jr.,  Edward  Tracey,  Samuel  Perry  of  Potosi,  and 
Peter  Bass  of  Boone  county.  During  the  number  of  years  which  this 
institution  was  in  existence,  it  had  the  entire  confidence  of  the  community, 
and  was  of  manifest  advantage  to  the  business  of  the  place.  During  the 
time  of  its  being,  its  directors  were  business  men  and  men  of  honor,  and, 
unlike  the  banks  which  had  previously  an  existence  in  St.  Louis,  it  closed 
its  career  in  great  credit,  nor  were  there  any  maledictions  attached  to  its 
memory.  So  efficiently  and  correctly  was  it  carried  on,  that  its  entire  loss 
to  the  government  at  its  winding  up  was  only  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  dollars. 

1830. — A  bridge  was  erected  across  Mill  Creek,  at  the  intersection  of 
Fourth  and  Fifth  streets,  and  St.  Louis  at  that  time  gave  indications  of  a 
city  fast  advancing  in  wealth,  beauty,  business,  and  all  the  municipal  at- 
tributes. Numerous  brick-yards  had  been  established  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  city,  and  brick  buildings  had  become  the  fashion  of  the  day.  The 
frame  or  stone  one-story  cottage-houses,  .with  their  piazzas  and  large 
yards,  significant  of  the  French  and  Spanish  time,  were  fast  disappearing. 
Most  of  the  extensive  gardens,  frequently  occupying  a  whole  square,  in 
which  grew  delicious  fruit,  and  on  which  were  raised  abundance  of  vege- 
tables, had  either  lost  their  original  owners  by  death,  and  the  property 
•  become  divided ;  or  else,  tempted  by  cupidity,  some  old  Frenchman  or 
Spaniard  sold  his  habitation  and  his  block  of  land,  which  had  been  grant- 
ed to  him  gratuitously  by  another  government,  and  had  risen  to  such 
value  that  he  was  tempted  to  part  with  it  for  the  fabulous  price  it  brought. 
Many  of  the  old  inhabitants  possessing  acres  in  the  very  heart  of  the 
city,  as  their  taxes  increased,  were  compelled,  from  inability  to  pay, 
either  to  sell  them  of  see  them  sold  publicly  under  legal  attachment. 
There  were  many  cases  of  this  nature ;  for  many  of  the  old  French  fami- 
lies, after  the  advent  of  the  Americans,  still  preserved  their  simple  mode 
of  life,  nor  seemed  sensible  of  changing  with  the  changing  circumstances 
around  them.  They  gathered  the  fruit  from  the  trees,  and  raised  their 
vegetables,  until  taxes  and  other  wants  so  accumulated  that  they  were 


AND    HEfc   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  341 

forced  every  few  years  to  lop  off  a  slice  from  their  grants;  and  their  sim- 
plicity and  unbusiness-like  habits  were  ofttimes  taken  advantage  of  by 
the  enterprising  race  who  had  settled  among  them,  and  ^  who  unscrupu- 
lously and  frequently  accomplished  their  avaricious  ends. 

In  1830,  there  was  much  excitement  in  St.  Louis  relative  to  the  de- 
cisions of  Judge  James  H.  Peck,  of  the  United  States  District  Court, 
regarding  some  extensive  land  claims  which  some  of  the  old  French  in- 
habitants contended  had  been  granted  to  them  under  the  Spanish  domi- 
nation. Judge  Peck  was  a  jurist  who  could  only  be  convinced  by  a 
chain  of  reasoning,  and  very  properly  viewed  with  prejudice  and  suspi- 
cion all  claims  which  were  not  supported  by  proper  legal  proof.  The 
cases  in  question  were,  Anguste  Chouteau  and  others  vs.  United  States, 
and  the  heirs  of  Mackey  Wherry  vs.  the  United  States.  The  judge, 
suspecting  from  the  remoteness  of  the  legal  links  that  the  claims  were 
not  properly  supported,  and  that  there  was  too  much  room  for  fraud  to 
creep  in  the  chasms,  decided  adversely  to  the  claimants.  His  decisions, 
which  were  published,  were  models  of  close  legal  arguments,  though  he 
did  not  give  that  wide  latitude  to  the  evidence  which  the  claims  of  that 
nature  seemed  in  justice  to  require.  He  required  something  more  than 
the  face  of  the  concession,  and  a  proof  of  its  genuineness.  He  went 
behind  the  record  and  inquired  into  the  right  of  the  lieutenant-governors 
in  some  cases  to  make  the  grants.  The  suspicions  with  which  he  regard- 
ed these  Spanish  concessions,  called  forth  a  public  legal  criticism  from 
the  pen  of  Judge  Luke  E.  Lawless,  the  senior  counsel  for  the  claimants, 
which  appeared  anonymously  in  one  of  the  public  prints.  The  pub- 
lisher of  the  sheet  was  immediately  arrested  for  contempt  of  judicial 
dignity ;  and  Judge  Lawless  immediately  avowed  his  authorship  in  open 
court,  contending  that  the  publication  in  question  was  only  an  examina- 
tion of  a  judicial  decision,  without  any  attempt  to  reflect  upon  official 
dignity.  However,  Judge. Peck  contended  that  the  ermine  had  been 
touched  by  sacrilegious  hands,  and  Judge  Lawless  was  ordered  to  prison 
and  suspended  for  a  time  from  practising  in  that  court. 

In  obedience  to  that  edict,  Judge  Lawless  went  to  prison  accompanied 
by  a  troop  of  his  friends,  but  was  released  after  a  few  hours  confinement 
by  a  habeas  corpus.  He  then,  in  retaliation  for  what  he  considered  an 
outrage  upon  his  feelings  and  a  tyrannical  display  of  authority,  went  to 
Washington  and  made  charges  against  Judge  Peck  before  the  House  of 
Representatives.  After  a  careful  investigation  of  the  case  the  impeach- 
ment was  dismissed. 

1831. — A  writer  in  one  of  the  public  journals  of  this  year  thus  speaks 
of  St.  Louis :  "  Our  city  is  improving  with  great  rapidity.  Many  good 
houses  are  building,  in  a  style  worthy  the  most  flourishing  seaport  towns. 
The  arts  and  useful  manufactures  are  multiplying  and  improving.  Mills, 
breweries,  mechanical  establishments,  all  seem  to  be  advancing  success- 
fully, for  the  good  of  the  country,  and  we  hope  for  the  great  profit  of  our 
enterprising  and  industrious  fellow-citizens.  The  trade  and  navigation  of 
this  port  are  becoming  immense.  Steamboats  are  daily  arriving  and  de- 
parting, from  east,  west,  north,  and  south ;  and  as  this  place  has  some 
decided  advantages  over  all  the  ports  of  the  Ohio  River,  for  laying  up  and 
repairing,  we  have  no  doubt  that  in  a  few  years  the  building  and  repair- 
ing of  steam-engines  and  boats  will  become  one  of  the  most  important 


342  THE    GREAT    WEST 


branches  of  St.  Louis  business.  We  have  all  the  materials,  wood  and 
metal,  in  abundance,  and  of  the  best  quality.  Already  we  have  a  foundry 
which,  it  is  hoged,  will  soon  rival  the  best  in  Cincinnati  and  Pittsburg — 
and  many  skilful  and  enterprising  mechanics.  A  bright  prospect  is  be- 
fore us,  and  we  look  confidently  to  the  day,  and  that  not  a  distant  one, 
when  no  town  on  the  western  waters  will  rank  above  St.  Louis  for  indus- 
try, wealth,  and  enterprise.  We  hear  that  our  worthy  and  active  towns- 
man, Paul  Anderson,  has  chosen  this  port  to  lay  up  his  splendid  boat, 
the  Uncle  Sam,  for  the  approaching  season.  She  is  a  six  hundred  ton 
boat,  and  is  said  not  to  have  a  superior  on  the  western  waters." 

Political  excitement  ran  high  in  the  city.  It  was  the  time  when  the 
fame  of  Jackson  was  at  its  culminating  point,  and  his  name  was  the 
political  battle-cry  of  his  friends  and  a  target  for  his  enemies.  The  fol- 
lowing was  the  ticket  of  city  candidates  for  that  year,  in  St.  Louis: 
Sheriff — John  K.  Walker,*  James  C.  Musick,  David  E.  Cuyler,  George 
M.  Moore.  Coroner — John  Bobb,*  Jesse  Colbnrn,  Thomas  Hobbs. 

The  first  idea  that  St.  Louis  ever  had  of  a  railroad  was  from  an  exhibi- 
tion during  this  year,  in  the  old  Baptist  church,  situated  at  the  corner  of 
Market  and  Third  streets,  of  a  miniature  railroad.  It  consisted  of  a 
small  circular  track  attached  to  a  stage,  on  which  was  a  small  car  with 
its  miniature  engine,  which  drove  it  around  at  the  rate  of  seven  miles  per 
hour.  The  citizens  regarded  this  as  the  great  wonder  of  the  day,  and 
as  the  ultima  thule  of  scientific  perfection. 

St.  Louis  underwent  considerable  improvements  during  the  year.  The 
upper  part  of  Third  street  was  widened,  a  portion  of  it  ordered  to  be 
graded  and  paved,  and  an  ordinance  passed  for  building  the  Broadway 
market.  The  immigration  to  the  city  was  considerable,  and  the  popula- 
tion was  5,963.  The  Missouri  Insurance  Company  was  also  incorporated, 
with  a  capital  of  $100,000.  George  Collier  was  its  president,  and  the 
following  gentlemen,  directors :  John  Mullanphy,  Peter  Lindell,  H.  Von 
Phul,  Wm.  Hill,  Thomas  Biddle,  Bernard  Pratte,  and  James  Clemens,  Jr. 
John  Ford  was  secretary  of  the  company. 

In  August  of  this  year,  Bloody  Island  was  again  steeped  in  human 
blood,  from  a  fatal  duel  between  two  citizens  of  high  political  and  moral 
standing.  Spencer  Pettis  was  a  young  and  promising  lawyer,  and  the 
candidate  for  Congress  of  the  Jackson  party.  He  was  opposed  by  David 
Barton,  Esq.,  but  unsuccessfully.  Major  Biddle,  in  a  journal  controversy, 
assailed  the  young  political  aspirant  in  terms  so  personally  reflective, 
that  Mr.  Pettis,  as  a  man  of  honor,  felt  bound  to  call  him  to  an  account 
in  the  manner  prescribed  by  the  bloody  creed,  which  at  that  time  was 
almost  in  universal  observance.  He  challenged  Major  Biddle,  who  ac- 
cepted it;  and  on  Friday  evening,  August  26th,  the  parties  met  on 
Bloody  Island. 

Major  Biddle  was  near-sighted,  and,  so  as  to  neutralize  the  advantage 
which  his  opponent  would  have  in  consequence  of  his  infirmity,  he  de- 
manded that  the  distance  should  be  but  five  paces.  This  demand  was 
acceded  to,  and  the  two  rivals  took  their  stations  at  that  distance.  At 
the  first  fire  they  both  fell  mortally  wounded.  Mr.  Pettis  survived  but 


*  Elected. 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL,   METROPOLIS.  313 

twenty-four  hours,  and  Major  Biddle  but  a  few  days.  Both  feeling  that 
they  had  received  their  death-wounds,  with  a  magnanimity  which  was 
truly  chivalrous,  exchanged  forgiveness  upon  the  battle-field. 

On  the  day  following  the  death  of  Mr.  Spencer  Pettis,  u  large  portion 
of  the  members  of  the  St.  Louis  bar  assembled  at  the  residence  of  Mr. 
Andrew  Burt,  to  express  complimentary  resolutions  in  honor  of  the  deceased. 
The  committee  of  arrangement  was  Messrs.  Joseph  C.  Laveille,  Edward 
Dobyns,  T.  Andrews,  John  Shade,  Charles  Keemle,  Captain  J.  Ruland,  R. 
H.  M'Gill,  and  Daniel  Miller.  The  chairman  of  the  meeting  was  Thomas 
H.  Bcnton,  and  Auguste  Kennerly,  secretary. 

A  few  days  after  the  fatal  termination  of  the  wound  of  Major  Biddle, 
the  officers  stationed  at  Jefferson  Barracks  assembled  to  give  a  proper 
expression  of  their  esteem  for  a  brother  officer.  General  Atkinson  was 
called  to  the  chair,  and  Captain  H.  Smith  appointed  secretary.  A  com- 
mittee, consisting  of  Brigadier-General  Leavenworth,  Major  Riley,  Captain 
Palmer,  Captain  Harrison,  and  Captain  Rogers,  was  selected,  to  draft 
resolutions  expressive  of  the  sense  of  the  meeting.  The  resolutions 
adopted  were  in  keeping  with  the  high-toned  honor  and  chivalric  merit 
of  the  deceased. 

In  consequence  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Pettis,  there  had  to  be  another 
election  for  Congressman,  and  General  William  H.  Ashley  was  elected. 

1832. — It  was  in  the  spring  that  a  large  detachment  of  United  States 
troops  left  Jefferson  Barracks  under  the  command  of  Brigadier-General 
Atkinson,  to  chastise  the  Sauks  and  Foxes,  who,  under  Black  Hawk  and 
the  Prophet,  had  violated  their  treaty  with  the  United  States,  by  remov- 
ing east  of  the  Mississippi,  and  had  invaded,  with  fire  and  scalping-knife, 
the  unprotected  frontier  settlements  of  Illinois.  The  horrible  butcheries 
alarmed  the  whole  of  the  pioneer  settlers,  and  they  deserted  their  homes 
and  removed  into  the  thickly  settled  country,  where  they  could  be  in  safety 
from  their  barbarous  foe.  Thus  leaving  their  homes  and  property  unpro- 
tected, many  of  them  in  a  distressing  state  from  disease  ;  and  many  fam- 
ilies were  in  want  of  the  common  necessaries  of  life.  In  the  cojd,  shiv- 
ering hour  of  their  distress,  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  rallied  to  their 
rescue,  and  furnished  assistance  to  comfort  them  in  their  sufferings. 

A  meeting  of  the  most  respectable  citizens  was  held  at  the  City  Hall,  at 
which  Archibald  Gamble,  Esq.,  presided,  and  G.  K.  Gunnegle  was  appointed 
secretary.  On  motion  of  Henry  S.  Geyer,  Esq.,  a  committee  of  thirteen 
was  constituted  to  solicit  donations  in  money  and  provisions  for  the  relief 
of  the  suffering  inhabitants  of  the  frontiers  of  Illinois.  The  gentlemen  con- 
stituting the  committee  were  D.  D.  Page,  John  Kerr,  H.  King,  P.  Powell, 
A.  L.  Mills,  George  Sproule,  William  Finney,  Thomas  Cohen,  John  Smith, 
J.  B.  Brant,  A.  L.  Johnson,  J.  W.  Reel,  and  John  H.  Gay. 

Fortunately  the  Indian  war  was  not  of  long  duration,  and  the  efficient 
generals  of  the  United  States  army,  aided  by  the  energy  of  Governor 
Reynolds  of  Illinois,  soon  subdued  the  savages.  Black  Hawk  and  the 
Prophet  were  taken  captives,  and  peace  permanently  established. 

We  cannot  dwell  longer  on  the  difficulties  with  the  Indians  and  the 
conditions   of  the  peace   made  with  them,  as  that  portion  of  history  is 
somewhat  extrinsic  of  our  narration,  and  should  not  have  been  touched 
upon  had  it  not  been  somewhat  connected  with  the  history  of  St.  Louis, . 
by  the  participation  of  the*United  States  troops  from  Jefferson  Barracks, 


34:4  THE   GREAT   WEST 


with  the  current  events,  and  generous  philanthropy  of  its  inhabitants, 
which  prompted  them  to  take  efficient  measures  to  relieve  their  suffering 
neighbors. 

The  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  have  never  exhibited  that  apathy  in  politics 
which  is  often  evinced  in  other  cities  of  greater  magnitude.  The  moment 
that  the  city  became  transferred  to  the  United  States  and  became  peopled 
with  Anglo-Americans,  it  became  emphatically  a  political  city.  The 
cause  of  this  was  obvious.  The  immigration  that  came  to  the  new  town 
and  settled  in  its  precincts,  was  principally  made  up  of  persons  of  intel- 
ligence and  ambitious  hopes,  who  had  forsaken  their  household  gods, 
and  had  come  to  a  new  country  to  make  for  themselves  a  fortune  and  a 
name.  They  were  persons  of  intelligence,  ready  to  take  whatever  current 
would  best  serve  to  lead  them  on  to  fortune.  They  plunged  into  politics, 
and  agitated  as  much  as  possible  those  waters,  which  were  the  natural 
reservoir  of  all  men's  opinions,  and  on  which  all  eyes  were  fastened.  They 
wished  to  be  seen  and  known  to  the  multitude,  and  launched  into  the 
element  which  would  be  more  conducive  to  the  aims  and  ends  of  their  ex- 
istence. The  natural  advantages  of  the  city  for  all  kinds  of  business  pur- 
suits and  professions  have  been  developing  year  by  year,  and  have  never 
been  exhausted  by  the  demands  of  immigration,  as  great  as  it  has  been. 
There  has  always  been  an  opening  for  the  enterprising  and  ambitious,  who 
continued  to  rush  to  the  favored  locality,  and  knowing  that  politics  were  in 
many  instances  the  open  Sesame  to  the  strongholds  of  national  preferment 
and  greatness,  they  have  ever  kept  it  in  agitation,  nor  suffered  political 
subjects  to  become  stale  or  oblivious  to  the  people. 

Amid  the  seasons  of  political  excitement  which  have  swept  over  St.  Louis 
and  ruffled  popular  feeling,  there  was  no  time  at  which  there  was  more 
interest  manifested  than  when  the  news  came  from  the  Capitol  that 
General  Jackson  had  vetoed  the  recharter  of  the  United  States  Bank.  To 
recharter  the  United  States  Bank  was  the  darling  wish  of  the  speculators 
and  commercial  men  of  the  country,  and  even  the  solid,  sterling  business 
men  of  .the  Union  were  deluded  to  give  it  their  support  and  countenance, 
from  the  apparent  prosperity  of  all  ramifications  of  business,  which  for  a 
while  is  the  natural  consequence  of  flooding  the  country  with  a  great 
amount  of  paper  currency.  They  did  not  reflect  that  this  paper  currency, 
if  thrown  upon  the  country  in  such  abundance  that  precluded  the  idea  of 
redemption,  gave  an  unhealthy  expansion  and  deceptive  appearance  of 
thrift  to  every  pursuit,  and,  like  the  dropsy,  though  enlarging  the  ap- 
pearance, is  at  the  same  time  feeding  upon  the  vitals. 

The  people  of  St.  Louis  were  rampant  in  their  disappointment.  They 
had  suffered  from  the  first  Missouri  Bank,  the  St.  Louis  Bank,  and  the 
Loan  Office,  though  the  latter  was  an  institution  guaranteed  by  the  state ; 
but  the  Branch  Bank  of  the  United  States,  since  its  establishment  at  St. 
Louis,  had  possessed  the  confidence  of  the  citizens,  had  given  them  a 
healthful,  unfluctuating  currency,  and  they  felt  indignant  at  the  act  of  the 
chief  magistrate,  which  would  produce  the  dissolution  of  an  institution 
which,  judging  from  their  own  experience,  they  thought  had  existed  only 
for  the  welfare  of  the  Union. 

Immediately  on  the  reception  of  the  veto,  there  was  a  howl  of  indigna- 

•tion  ;    and  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  the  county  and  city  of  St.  Louis 

was  called  at  the  court-house,  in  July,  1832,  to  give  public  expression  to 


AND    HER   COMMERCIAL    METROPOLIS.  345 

their  disapprobation.  Dr.  William  Carr  Lane  presided  at  the  meeting, 
and  James  L.  Murray  was  appointed  its  secretary.  Resolutions  were 
drafted  strongly  expressive  of  indignation,  by  a  committee  chosen  for  that 
purpose,  and  consisting  of  the  following  gentlemen  :  Messrs.  Edward 
Bates,  Pierre  Chouteau,  Jr.,  George  Collier,  Thornton  Grimsley,  Henry  S. 
Geyer,  and  Nathan  Ranney.  Dr.  George  W.  Call,  and  Messrs.  Frederick 
Hyatt,  Matthew  Kerr,  Asa  Wilgus,  Thomas  Cohen  and  R.  H.  McGill  also 
took  an  active  part  in  the  meeting. 

General  Jackson,  however,  had  in  St.  Louis,  as  he  had  in  every  section 
of  the  Union,  a  large  number  of  friends  and  admirers,  who  followed  him 
with  a  blind  confidence,  and  upheld  with  faithful  diligence  all  his  decrees; 
and,  in  order  to  neutralize  the  effect  of  the  whig  indignation  meeting, 
they  called  a  meeting  of  their  partisans  at  the  town-house,  that  they  might 
publicly  declare  their  approbation  of  the  veto,  which  would  be  the  death 
fiat  of  an  institution  which,  from  its  enormous  capital,  would  have  such  a 
controlling  influence  as  not  only  to  crush,  at  pleasure,  every  other  moneyed 
institution,  but  would  insinuate  its  corrupting  tendencies  in  our  congres- 
sional halls  and  sway  the  councils  of  the  republic.  Dr.  Samuel  Merry 
and  Absalom  Link  presided  at  this  meeting,  and  William  Milburn  was 
appointed  secretary.  The  committee  to  draft  resolutions  was  appointed 
by  the  chair,  and  consisted  of  the  following  gentlemen  :  Messrs.  E. 
Dobyns,  John  Shade,  James  C.  Lynch,  L.  Brown,  B.  W.  Ay  res,  I.  H. 
Baldwin  and  P.  Taylor.  Colonel  George  F.  Strother  made  a  spirited 
address  to  the  meeting. 

It  is  nearly  twenty-eight  years  since  these  events  took  place,  and  the 
hero  of  New  Orleans  is  "pillowed  in  his  sarcophagus."  Those  who  con- 
scientiously opposed  him  at  that  day,  although  they  may  not  have  justi- 
fied the  dangerous  precedent  of  differing  on  a  constitutional  question  with 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  which  is  the  appointed  guardian 
of  the  constitution — yet,  when  a  few  years  after  the  veto,  they  saw  the 
rottenness  of  the  favored  institution,  must  acknowledge  the  benefits  that 
accrued  to  the  country  by  the  president  refusing  to  sign  the  bill  for  its  re- 
charter. 

In  August  of  the  present  year,  there  were  three  candidates  for  gover- 
nor— John  Bull,  Samuel  C.  Davis,  and  Daniel  Dunklin.  The  latter,  who 
was  the  Jackson  candidate,  was  elected,  and  L.  W.  Boggs  as  lieutenant- 
governor. 

During  the  summer,  that  dreadful  scourge  of  the  human  race,  the 
Asiatic  cholera,  visited  St.  Louis,  swelling  the  number  of  interments  in 
the  church-yards,  and  carrying  desolation  to  many  a  fireside,  whose  mem- 
bers would  long  have  withstood  the  slow  elements  of  corporeal  decay,  and 
would  have  lived  long  in  the  tender  relations  subsisting  in  the  family  circle. 

The  pestilence  did  not  come  upon  St.  Louis  suddenly  :  it  gave  warning 
of  its  approach  by  invading  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  the 
southern  cities.  The  most  efficient  measures  were  taken  to  remove  all 
unhealthful  matter  from  the  streets  and  to  cleanse  them  from  impurities. 
All  was  of  little  avail ;  for  the  direful  malady  nestled  on  the  wings  of  the 
breeze,  and  first  visited  the  outskirts  of  the  city.  A  soldier  at  Jefferson 
Barracks  was  first  attacked  with  the  virulent  symptoms  of  the  disease, 
and  the  attendant  physician  pronounced  the  case,  though  unwillingly,  one 
of  Asiatic  cholera. 


340  THE    GEE  AT   WEST 


All  intercourse  with  the  military  post  was  at  once  cut  off,  and  it  was 
fondly  hoped  that  the  pestilence  might  be  kept  from  the  city  by  careful 
sanitary  measures.  The  hope  was  vain.  In  a  few  days  it  was  in  the  heart 
of  the  city  and  raging  with  the  utmost  malignity.  All  who  could  leave 
the  city,  at  once  fled,  and  by  this  means  the  number  of  deaths  was  much 
abridged. 

The  population  of  St.  Louis  at  that  time  was  6,918,  including  those 
who  had  left  the  town,  and  the  number  of  deaths  averaged  for  several 
days  more  than  thirty  per  day ;  and  for  two  weeks  more,  there  were  about 
twenty  victims  to  the  disease  daily.  It  continued  its  ravages  for  a  month, 
and  then  disappeared. 

1833. — In  February  an  effort  was  made  to  impeach  William  C.  Carr, 
one  of  the  circuit  judges,  and  one  of  the  oldest  inhabitants,  who  had 
come  to  St.  Louis  one  month  after  the  transfer  from  Spain  to  the  United 
States.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  effort  owed  its  origin  principally  to 
political  prejudices,  and  the  main  features  of  the  charge  had  no  founda- 
tion in  truth. 

The  alleged  charge  was  that  "  William  C.  Carr  is  wholly  unqualified  for 
the  judicial  station,  and  ought  not  to  hold  the  office  of  judge  in  the  third 
judicial  circuit  court  in  the  state  of  Missouri." 

Such  was  the  nature  of  the  general  charge,  which  consisted  of  fourteen 
specifications,  all  of  them  alleging  something  which  disqualified  him  for 
his  responsible  position.  The  charge  and  the  specifications  were  carefully 
examined  by  both  houses  of  the  legislature,  and  the  pioneer  jurist  of  St. 
Louis  was  acquitted. 

In  1833,  St.  Louis  first  commenced  the  era  of  that  prosperity  which 
has  since  continued,  and  which  has  been  so  remarkable  in  the  annals  of 
city  prosperity.  From  its  foundation  in  1*764  to  this  period,  its  advance 
had  been  one  of  quiet  and  constant  progression ;  but  the  elements  of 
prosperity  for  some  years  had  been  gradually  collecting  in  force,  and  gave 
a  momentum  to  every  department  in  business.  It  was  in  1817  that  the 
first  steamboat  (the  General  Pike)  first  touched  its  levee,  and  then  a  new 
era  in  navigation  commenced.  The  barges  and  Mackinaw  boats  gradual- 
ly disappeared,  and  the  class  of  hardy  boatmen  termed  the  voyageurs 
began  to  lose  their  pre-eminence.  The  rough  boats  and  rough  boatmen 
had  had  their  day,  and  a  new  order  of  things  brought  about  by  the  magi- 
cal wand  of  science,  came  at  once  into  being.  Since  the  first  arrival  of 
a  steamboat,  year  by  year  they  had  increased  in  number,  and  at  this 
time  there  was  not  a  day  but  numbers  of  steamers  landed  at  the  levee, 
or  departed  for  Ohio,  Illinois,  Missouri,  and  the  Upper  and  Lower  Missis- 
sippi. There  was  also  a  line  of  stages  for  Vincennes,  and  Louisville. 
The  time  of  performing  the  journey  by  coach,  between  St.  Louis  and 
Louisville,  was  three  and  a  half  days.  There  was  also  a  stage  line  between 
St.  Louis  and  Galena,  and  Peoria,  via  Springfield.  There  was  as  yet  no 
railway  to  destroy  the  impediments  of  distance,  and  a  journey  through 
the  interior  of  the  western  country,  that  could  not  be  assisted  by  river 
navigation,  if  performed  in  early  spring,  was  associated  with  every  idea 
of  discomfort ;  the  horses  floundering  in  mud-holes  and  probably  not  be- 
ing able  to  extricate  the  vehicle,  and  then  the  traveler  had  to  step  out 
ofttimes  in  the  very  middle  of  the  sink,  which  held  to  his  legs  with  such 
quicksand  pertinacity  that  it  frequently  required  considerable  effort  to  dis- 


VIEW  ON  LUCAS  PLACK. 
Residence  of  WILLIAM  M.  MORRISON,  ESQ. 


ST.  LOUIS  UNIVERSITY.— 9th  Street  corner  of  Washington  Avenue. 
F.  COOSEMANS,  S.  J.  President. 


SECOND  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

Corner  of  6th  and  Locust  Streets,  as  it  appeared  before  the  steeple  was  blown  down. 
REV.  G-ALTJSHA  ANDERSON,  Pastor. 


CITY  UNIVERSITY. 
Corner  of  16th  and  Pine  Streets. 

HAMILTON  R.  GAMBLE,  President.  EDWARD  BREDELL,  Vice-President . 

DAVID  H.  BISHOP,  Secretary. 

FACULTY. 
Rev.  E.  C.  Wines,  D.  D.,  President.          John  W.  Atcheson,  A.  M. 


AND   HEK   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  347 

engage  himself.  Then  often  the  rivulets  had  become  so  swollen  that  the 
horses  had  to  ford  them  by  swimming.  The  drivers  of  these  vehicles 
were  made  of  other  stuff  than  their  descendants  of  the  present  day.  If 
they  encountered  a  large  stream  of  water,  which,  from  a  freshet,  had  swept 
away  the  bridge,  or  which  had  become  so  increased  from  frequent  rains 
that  the  horses  in  making  the  passage  could  not  reach  terra  firma,  they 
immediately  unloosed  the  harness,  and  mounting  the  passengers  on  the 
horses,  in  this  manner  gained  the  opposite  side — not  regarding  the  soak- 
ing habiliments  of  the  traveller  with  any  kind  of  disquietude  or  uneasi- 
ness ;  they  would  then  return  for  the  coach  and  drag  it  through  the 
water,  after  getting  it  half  filled  or  more  with  that  element,  and  then 
baling  out  the  water  pursue  their  journey  without  thinking  they  had  en- 
countered any  obstacle  outside  of  the  ordinary  routine. 

There  was  an  ordinance  established  in  the  spring  of  this  year,  appoint- 
ing a  weigher  for  the  city,  so  that  hay  and  stone-coal  coming  into  the 
town  for  sale,  might  be  weighed.  The  office  and  scales  were  established 
adjoining  Market  square. 

In  the  election  of  this  year  for  mayor,  Dr.  Samuel  Merry  was  elected ; 
but  his  election  was  contested  upon  the  ground  of  unconstitntionality, 
Dr.  Merry  being  a  receiver  of  public  moneys,  which  office  he  held  under 
appointment  of  the  president. 

In  one  of  the  articles  in  the  amendment  of  the  constitution  of  the 
state,  it  is  laid  down  that  "no  person  holding  an  office  of  profit  under 
the  United  States,  and  commissioned  by  the  president,  shall,  during  his 
continuance  in  said  office,  be  eligible,  appointed  to,  hold,  or  exercise  any 
office  of  profit  under  this  state." 

The  only  question  to  be  settled  was,  whether  the  office  of  mayor  was 
an  office  under  the  state.  Dr.  Merry,  the  elected  candidate,  contended 
that  it  was  exclusively  a  municipal  appointment,  and  therefore  did  not 
come  under  the  prohibition.  However,  the  board  of  aldermen  took  a  dif- 
ferent view  of  the  matter,  and  declared  in  conclave  that  the  office  of 
mayor,  though  a  municipal  appointment,  was  still  an  office  of  the  state, 
and  had  many  of  his  duties  laid  down  in  the  statute  enactments;  and 
that  the  former  incumbent,  Daniel  D.  Page,  should  continue  as  mayor 
until  after  another  election. 

The  case  finally  went  to  the  Supreme  Court,  and  the  decision  of  the 
aldermen  was  sustained.  It  was  then  agreed  that  the  president  of  the 
board  of  aldermen  should  officiate  as  chief  executive  officer  until  the 
election  took  place  in  the  following  autumn,  when  Colonel  John  W.  John- 
son was  elected. 

Missouri  has  always  been  cursed  with  a  lottery  system,  dating  from  al- 
most her  ea^'ly  territorial  existence  to  the  present  time.  So  as  to  increase 
the  revenue  of  the  state,  and  for  the  purpose  of  making  certain  improve- 
ments, the  legislature  licenses  lotteries,  which,  though  answering  the  pur- 
pose of  revenue,  yet  by  a  plausible  temptation  allure  the  credulous  to 
invest,  in  the  hopes  of  a  speedy  fortune ;  and  in  many  instances,  and  in 
a  short  time,  by  their  nefarious  system  bring  poverty  and  discord  to  many 
a  hearthstone  where  once  reigned  plenty  and  happiness. 

In  1833,  there  was  a  newspaper  controversy  between  two  well-known 
lottery  dealers,  James  S.  Thomas  and  James  R.  McDonald,  who  carried 
on  two  different  lotteries.  The  difficulty  arose  from  the  fact  that  at  the 
15 


348  THE   GREAT   WEST 


preceding  session  of  the  legislature  a  bill  had  been  passed,  authorizing 
the  drawing  of  a  lottery  for  the  purpose  of  creating  a  sum  of  ten  thou- 
sand dollars  for  building  a  hospital  for  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  where  they 
could  efficiently  exercise  their  mission  of  mercy  prescribed  by  their  creed, 
in  soothing  the  invalid  during  the  hours  of  sickness  and  suffering  by 
ministering  to  the  physical  and  mental  wants.  The  commissioners  ap- 
pointed by  the  legislature  had  sold  this  lottery  to  James  S.  Thomas.  In 
this  newspaper  controversy  it  was  made  to  appear  that  the  gains  arising 
from  the  scheme  would  be  immense  for  Mr.  Thomas,  and  by  his  system 
of  lottery-drawing  untold  gains  would  flow  into  his  coffers  by  the  con- 
tract. 

The  publication  excited  much  interest  at  the  time,  and  the  suspicions 
of  the  community  becoming  aroused,  a  committee  was  selected  to  exam- 
ine into  the  mysteries  of  the  lottery  drawing  which  had  received  the 
patronage  of  the  state  authorities. 

The  committee  consisted  of  the  following  gentlemen  :  N.  H.  Ridgely. 
David  H.  Hill,  George  K.  McGunnegle,  D.  Hough,  Augustus  Kerr,  John 
F.  Darby,  and  Bernard  Pratte,  Sr.  After  examining  if  the  scheme  were 
fraudulent,  as  fruit  of  their  diligent  labor  they  gave  to  the  public  a  long 
and  favorable  statement  concerning  the  honesty  of  the  drawing.  The 
following  is  the  clause  of  acquittal  on  the  ground  of  fraud : 

"Your  committee  then,  after  an  attentive  review  of  the  subject,  are  of 
opinion  that  the  charge  made  against  this  scheme,  that  it  affords  the. 
manager  an  opportunity  of  fraudulently  realizing  a  great  and  unusual 
proportion  of  profit,  is  not  sustained.''  After  this  explanation,  the  pub- 
lic looked  with  additional  favor  upon  the  lottery ;  and  the  object  being 
for  the  erection  of  a  hospital  to  be  under  the  charge  of  the  Sisters  of 
Charity,  the  gambling  scheme  thus  ministering  to  the  cause  of  religion, 
became  popular,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  tickets  were  quickly  sold. 

While  thus  speaking  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  we  will  give  a  little  sketch 
of  their  order — as  the  order  is  so  well  known  in  St.  Louis,  and  identified 
with  religion  and  philanthropy — as  given  by  an  eminent  divine  of  Balti- 
more : 

"The  society  known  by  the  name  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  was  founded 
in  Paris  about  the  year  1646,  by  St.  Vincent  of  Paul.  The  intention  of 
this  illustrious  benefactor  of  mankind  in  establishing  this  society  was  to 
procure  relief  to  humanity  in  its  most  suffering  stages.  Accordingly, 
attendance  on  the  sick  in  hospitals  and  infirmaries,  visiting  prisoners,  the 
education  of  the  poor,  and  the  performance  of  every  work  of  mercy, 
engage  the  attention  and  solicitude  of  the  pious  daughters  of  St.  Vincent. 
This  society  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  useful  that  has  ever  been  estab- 
lished, and  has  never  failed  to  command  universal  admiration^  in  the  coun- 
tries in  which  it  has  been  known.  Even  Voltaire,  opposed  as  he  was  to 
every  thing  that  bore  the  appearance  of  Christianity,  could  not  withhold 
from  it  his  measure  of  praise.  'Perhaps,'  says  he,  in  his  Essai  sur  U  Hist. 
General, '  there  is  nothing  more  sublime  on  earth,  than  the  sacrifice  of 
beauty,  of  youth,  and  frequently  of  high  birth,  which  is  made  by  a  tender 
sex,  to  assuage,  in  our  hospitals,  the  assemblage  of  every  human  misery, 
the  very  sight  of  which  is  so  humiliating  to  our  pride,  and  so  shocking  to 
our  delicacy.'  The  order  was  soon  spread  through  the  different  kingdoms 
of  Europe.  France,  Germany,  Poland,  and  the  Netherlands,  yet  feel  the 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  349 

advantage  of  having  the  members  of  this  community  to  attend  their  hos- 
pitals. 

"In  1709,  the  sphere  of  usefulness  of  these  truly  pious* ladies  was  ex- 
tended to  the  United  States,  through  the  means  of  Mrs.  Seaton,  of  New 
York,  a  lady  of  distinguished  birth  and  education,  whose  name  is  yet  ven- 
erated by  all  who  knew  her,  and  whose  memory  will  be  blessed  by  children 
yet  unborn,  who  will  feel  the  beneficial  influence  of  her  disinterested  piety 
and  self-devotion. 

"  In  Baltimore,  her  designs  were  encouraged  by  the  Most  Rev.  Dr. 
Carroll,  then  archbishop  of  Baltimore.  By  his  directions,  the  original 
constitutions  of  St.  Vincent  were  modified,  so  as  to  suit  the  manners  and 
customs  of  our  country.  The  modifications  received  his  sanction,  and 
Mrs.  Seaton  was  exhorted  to  proceed.  A  few  ladies  joined  her  in  her 
arduous  and  heroic  undertaking,  and  she  established  her  little  community 
about  fifty  miles  from  Baltimore,  in  the  Valley  of  St.  Joseph,  near  the 
town  of  Emmettsburg,  in  Frederick  county,  Maryland.  This  is  the  prin- 
cipal establishment,  and  is  called  by  them  the  mother  house.  Here  they 
have  an  academy  for  the  instruction  of  young  ladies,  on  a  very  extensive 
plan. 

"  The  community  is  governed  by  a  superior,  called  mother,  an  assist- 
ant mother,  and  two  counsellors.  The  officers  are  elected  every  three 
years  by  a  majority  of  votes.  No  one  can  hold  the  place  of  mother  for 
more  than  two  terms  consecutively.  The  sisters  make  their  engagements 
for  one  year  only.  At  the  end  of  this  time  they  are  at  liberty  to  leave 
the  society,  if  they  think  proper.  Their  vow  of  poverty  is  strict  in  the 
extreme.  They  receive  no  remuneration  for  their  services ;  a  small  sum 
is  paid  to  the  community,  barely  sufficient  for  their  apparel,  and  to  provide 
for  the  contingency  of  sickness. 

"The  Catholic  orphan  asylums  and  charity  schools  in  most  of  the  large 
cities  in  the  United  States  have  been  placed  under  their  direction.  They 
have  an  establishment  in  Boston,  one  in  Albany,  two  in  New  York,  one 
in  Brooklyn,  three  in  Philadelphia,  one  in  Wilmington,  Delaware,  one  in 
.Baltimore,  two  in  Washington  City,  one  in  Alexandria,  one  in  Frederick 
City,  one  in  Cincinnati,  one  in  St.  Louis,  and  one  in  New  Orleans.  It 
is  impossible  to  recount  the  good  which  is  performed  by  them  in  these 
institutions,  or  to  tell  how  many  hundreds  they  have  saved  from  igno- 
rance, and  perhaps  from  infamy.  In  Baltimore,  they  have  the  charge  of 
the  infirmary  which  is  connected  with  the  medical  college,  and  in  St. 
Louis  an  hospital  is  placed  under  their  care.  It  is  in  such  haunts  of  suf- 
fering that  their  usefulness  is  more  feelingly  known.  With  what  tender 
sympathy  do  they  not  receive  the  patient,  who  is  to  be  the  object  of  their 
future  care!^  He  meets  with  hearts  which  are  melted  at  the  recital  of  his 
sufferings;  and  the  true  compassion  which  he  witnesses  gives  him  the 
assurance  that  in  them  he  will  find  affectionate  mothers.  With  what 
unwearied  patience  do  they  not  watch  every  accidental  change  in  the 
disease!  With  what  tender  solicitude  do  they  not  give  every  relief! 
They  are  ingenious  in  inventions  to  save  him  from  pain,  and  procure  him 
the  least  momentary  comfort.  With  soothing  and  consoling  words  they 
revive  his  drooping  spirits;  with  religious  zeal  they  alleviate  the  agonies 
of  death,  and  by  seasonable  exhortations,  prepare  his  soul  to  appear 
before  a  sovereign  Judge.  These  are  the  helps,  spiritual  and  corporeal, 


350  THE   GREAT   WEST 


which  religion  suggests  to  the  feeling  heart  of  a  pious  woman,  and  in 
which  religion^alone  can  give  her  the  courage  to  persevere. 

"  When  the  dreadful  scourge  which  has  depopulated  our  cities  visited 
Philadelphia,  the  civil  authorities  of  that  city  expressed  a  wish  to  have 
the  assistance  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity.  The  wish  was  made  known  to 
the  community  by  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Kenrick,  and  by  return  of  the 
mail  thirteen  of  the  heroines  were  landed  in  Philadelphia,  ready  to  rush 
with  joy  to  the  assistance  of  those  from  whom  the  rest  of  the  world 
seemed  to  fly  with  horror.  The  scene  at  the  mother's  house,  when  the 
request  was  made  known,  was  related  to  me  by  an  eye-witness,  and  is 
characteristic  of  the  devotedness  of  this  pious  community.  The  council 
was  assembled,  a  favorable  determination  immediately  taken,  and  a  selec- 
tion made  of  those  who  were  to  start.  Joy  beamed  upon  the  counte- 
nances of  those  who  were  selected,  and  preparations  were  soon  made, 
while  those  who  remained  behind,  with  sorrow  upon  their  brow,  looked 
with  pious  envy  on  those  upon  whom  the  happy  lot  had  fallen. 

"In  Baltimore  the  same  request  was  made,  and  was  met  with  equal 
heroism.  It  was  here  that  was  immolated  the  first  victim  of  charity,  in 
the  person  of  sister  Mary  Frances,  the  daughter  of  the  late  Benedict 
Boarman,  of  Charles  county,  Maryland,  once  admired  in  the  extensive 
circle  in  which  she  moved.  On  the  morning  of  the  day  in  which  she 
died,  she  fainted  from  weakness  occasioned  by  the  premonitory  symp- 
toms of  cholera. 

"While  preparing  to  take  the  remedies  which  had  been  prescribed 
for  her,  a  patient,  a  colored  woman,  was  brought  into  the  hospital. 
The  case  seemed  desperate,  and  to  require  immediate  assistance ;  and 
the  heroic  sister  forgot  herself  to  give  relief  to  the  patient.  But  her  deli- 
cate frame  was  too  weak,  and  the  disease  too  strong,  and  in  a  few  hours 
the  cherished,  accomplished,  and  pious  Mary  Frances,  was  a  lifeless  corpse. 
The  death  of  this  sister  did  not  deter  the  others.  There  was  no  panic,  no 
alarm,  not  even  concern ;  but  with  a  devotedness  which  can  scarcely  be 
conceived  or  credited,  her  place  was  sought  with  emulation,  and  the  catas- 
trophe only  increased  their  courage. 

"The  feelings  with  which  the  news  of  the  immolation  of  this  first  vic- 
tim was  received  at  the  mother  house,  it  would  be  difficult  to  express ; 
she  was  loved,  she  was  cherished  as  a  sister,  but  could  her  fate  be  regret- 
ted ?  They  cannot  be  better  pictured  than  in  the  words  of  the  honorable 
mayor  of  the  city  of  Baltimore,  in  the  letter  he  wrote  to  the  community 
on  the  occasion :  'To  behold,'  says  he,  'life  thus  immolated  in  so  sacred 
a  cause,  produces  rather  a  sensation  of  awe  than  of  sorrow ;  a  sentiment 
of  resignation  to  the  Almighty  fiat,  rather  than  a  useless  regret  at  the 
afflicting  event.' 

"  The  next  victim  was  sister  Mary  George,  the  daughter  of  Jacob  Smith, 
a  wealthy  farmer  in  Adams  county,  Pennsylvania.  She  dedicated  herself 
at  an  early  age  to  the  service  of  her  neighbors,  and  was  soon  called  to 
receive  the  crown  which  her  devoted  charity  deserved.  She  died  in  Bal- 
timore, of  the  epidemic,  in  the  nineteenth  year  of  her  age. 

"  Several  other  members  of  this  heroic  band  were  attacked,  either  in 
the  cholera  hospitals  or  in  the  county  and  city  alms-house,  where  the  epi- 
demic was  most  fatal,  but  they  have  escaped  death,  only  to  be  ready,  at 
some  future  call,  to  administer  relief  and  comfort  to  the  suffering." 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS. 


351 


The  Eagle  powder  mills  were  erected  this  year,  by  Major  Phillips  and 
Dr.  Lane,  in  the  southern  part  of  the  city,  and  their  powder  became  justly 
celebrated.  They  were  soon  afterward  blown  to  pieces  bj*  an  accidental 
explosion. 

That  the  reader  may  form  an  estimate  of  the  value  of  articles  in  St. 
Louis  at  this  time,  we  will  give  the  prices  current  of  its  market : 


ST.  LOUIS    WHOLESALE    PRICES  CURRENT. 


Ale  and  Porter,. . .  bbl. 

Bacon,  Hams, Ib. 

Hog,  round    Ib. 

Beans, bush. 

Beef, bbl. 

Beeswax,   Ib. 

Butter, Ib. 

Castings, ton, 

Castor  Oil, gal. 

Candles — Sperm, .  Ib. 
Mould, .  Ib. 
Dipt., . .  Ib. 

Clover  Seed, bush. 

Coal, bush. 

Coffee,  [in  demand]     Ib. 

Cordage — White, .      Ib. 

Manilla,     Ib. 

Copperas, Ib. 

Cotton, Ib. 

Cotton  Yarns, ...      !b. 
Furs — Beaver, ...      Ib. 
Muskrat, . .  skin, 
Deer  skins, 

shaved, .      Ib. 
Deer  skins, 

in  Hair, .      Ib. 
Raccoon, . .  skin, 

Feathers, Ib. 

Flour — superfine, 

Illinois,,    bbl. 
superfine, 
Ohio,...   bbl. 

Mackerel, bbl. 

Glass— 10  by  12,.  box, 

8  by  10, .  box, 

Grain — Wheat,.,  .bush. 

Corn,. . .  .bush. 

Gunpowder — 

Dupont's, keg, 

Ky.  &  Delware,  keg, 
Hides — Dried,  ...  Ib. 
Iron — 

Missouri  &  Juni- 
ata,  ton  2,000  Ibs. 

Lard, Ib. 

Lead — 

Bar, Ib. 

Pig, Ib. 

White,  in  oil,  [in 

demand]  keg, 

Linen — Tow, ....     yd. 

Flax, yd. 


$8  00 

03  a 

09 

05*  a 

06 

75 

8  00  a 

1000 

16*  a 

17 

10  a 

12 

70  00 

1  35  a 

137 

40  a 

42 

13  a 

14 

11  a 

12 

7  00  a 

8  00 

10  a 

12 

15* 

06  a 

08 

20  a 

22 

02  a 

03 

11  a 

12 

25  a 

27 

3  50 

20  a 

25 

20  a 

22 

10  a 

12 

30  a 

33 

37  a 

40 

450  a 

475 

425  a 

450 

6  00  a 

8  00 

5  00  a 

5  25 

400  a 

425 

60  a 

62 

45  a 

50 

7  00 

6  50 

11  a 

12 

12000 

06 

06 

4*  a 

4  62* 

2  75 

13  a 

14 

20  a 

22 

Molasses. gal.  $0  35  a 

Nails — cut, Ib.       06  £  a 

Oil — Sperm, gal.        65  a 

Linseed, ....  gal.    1  00  a 

Tanners,  . . .  bbl.  18  00  a 

Pork— Mess, bbl.  11  00  a 

Prime,.    . .  bbl.  10  50  a 

Potatoes, bush.       25  a 

Rice, Ib.       05  a 

Sugar. Ib.        09  a 

do     Loaf, Ib.        15  a 

do     Havana, 

white,...  Ib.       12  a 
Salt— 

Liv.blown,[sc.]bu.of  501bs  85  a 

Ground, do       70  a 

Turks  Island,. . .  do       62  a 

Kanawha, do       45  a 

Shot, bag.    1  50  a 

Cogniac Brandy,.,  gal.    1  25  a 


gal. 
gal. 


gal. 


American     do... 

Peach          do.  .  . 

Holland    Gin,  .  .  . 

Common    do.  ... 

N.  0.   Rum,  ____ 

Jamaica  do  ..... 

Whisky  —  common  gal. 
Rye,...     gal. 

Tallow,  .........      Ib. 

Tar,  ............    bbl.    4  50    a 

Tea- 

Gunpowder,  ...      Ib. 
Imperial,  ......      Ib. 

Young  Hyson,  .      Ib.    1  00    a 

Vinegar,  ........   bbl.    4  00    a 

Wine  — 

Madeira,  ......    gal.    3  00    a 

Teneriffe,  .....     gal.    1  00    a 

S.Madeira,  ----     gal.    1  50    a 

Port,  .........     gal.    2  00    a 

Malaga,  .......    gal.        70    a 

Champagne,....    doz.  14  00    a 

Claret,  ........  doz.    4  00    a 


1  25  a 

50  a 

50  a 

1  10  a 

28  a 

40  a 

08  a 


1  25    a 
1  20    a 


$0  37 

07 

70 

1  12 

20  00 

12  00 

11  00 

37 

06 

10 

17 

13 


90 
75 

G5 
50 
62 
75 


75    a      1  00 


1  33 
1  30 
1  06 
5  00 

4  00 

1  25 
175 

2  50 
75 

1800 
450 


PROVISION    MARKET. 

Beef,  ...........  '  ..........    Ib.  $0  05 

Veal,  .....................   Ib.  08 

Mutton,  ...................  Ib.  06 

Butter,  ....................   Ib.  12* 

Eggs,  ....................  doz.  18$ 

Chickens,  (full  grown,)  ......  25 

do        young,  ........  •.  ..  12$ 


352  THE   GREAT   WEST 


In  1834-37,  St.  Louis  continued  rapidly  to  increase.  Its  prosperity 
was  a  solid  prosperity,  not  a  pampered  state  of  things  brought  about  by 
the  inflated  tendencies  of  a  plethoric  paper  currency,  but  a  healthy  in- 
crease of  all  departments  of  business  springing  from  natural  and  salutary 
causes.  There  was  scarcely  any  paper  money  afloat,  the  currency  being 
in  gold  and  silver,  as  there  was  no  bank  in  the  city  and  state. 

A  hard  currency  was  always  a  hobby  with  Colonel  Benton,  who  had 
been  United  States  senator  since  Missouri  was  made  a  state  in  1820. 
After  the  disgraceful  failures  of  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis  and  Bank  of  Mis- 
souri, and  the  short  and  equally  degraded  existence  of  the  Loan-Office, 
the  people  for  some  years  were  content  to  be  without  any  banking  insti- 
tutions, which  appeared  to  keep  the  financial  currents  in  a  state  of  con- 
tinual agitation.  The  establishment  of  the  branch  bank  of  the  United 
States,  which  during  its  existence  was  managed  with  judgment  and  con- 
ducted honorably,  gave  them  a  better  opinion  of  banking;  and  after  the 
winding  up  of  that  institution,  there  was  a  desire  manifested  by  the 
business  part  of  the  community  to  create  a  moneyed  institution  to  supply 
its  place.  Application  was  made  at  sundry  times  during  the  sessions  of 
the  legislature  in  1835-36,  without  success;  and  as  a  last  resort,  banks 
of  other  states  were  invited  to  establish  branch  banks  in  the  city,  so  that 
money  might  become-more  plentiful  by  having  a  fountain  which  would 
flood  the  country  with  a  paper  currency. 

In  March,  1835,  the  legislature  passed  an  act  allowing  the  city  authori- 
ties to  make  sale  of  the  "  Commons,"  if  it  were  the  wish  of  the  inhabi- 
tants who  were  property  holders  in  the  town  as  it  was  bounded  in  1812. 

At  this  time  the  city  was  much  in  want  of  a  sufficient  fund  for  muni- 
cipal improvement;  for  its  inducements  for  business  had  caused  dwell- 
ings to  multiply,  and  also  new  streets  to  be  opened,  before  the  funds  of 
the  city  were  sufficient  to  grade  them.  The  inhabitants  quickly  consent- 
ed to  the  sale,  and  one-tenth  of  the  proceeds  was  devoted  to  the  support 
of  public  schools. 

Just  at  this  time  the  immigration  to  St.  Louis  was  immense,  and  the 
city  realized  more  from  the  sale  of  the  "Commons"  than  the  most  san- 
guine expectations  had  hoped  for.  One  single  fact  will  convey  to  the 
reader  an  idea  of  the  increasing  commerce  of  the  city,  when  we  state  that 
on  the  night  of  the  llth  November,  1835,  there  were  eight  steamboats 
which  arrived  at  the  wharf.  The  following  extract  from  the  steamboat 
register  will  furnish  some  idea  of  the  trade  of  the  city  in  some  of  its 
material  departments : 

No.  of  different  boats 121 

Aggregate  tonnage 15,470 

No.  of  entries 803 

"Wharfage  collected  from  do $4,573,60 

"Wood  and  lumber  liable  to  wharfage — 

Plank,  joists,  and  scantling 1,414.330  feet 

Shingles 148,000 

Cedar  posts  (8's) 7,706 

Cords  firewood 8,066 

A  writer  in  one  of  the  popular  journals  of  the  day  thus  speaks  of  the 
increasing  business  of  the  city  : 

"  We  cannot  refrain  from  drawing  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  the 


AND   HEK   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  353 

number  of  arrivals  of  steamboats  during  the  past  year,  which  show  an  in- 
crease on  the  former,  as  does  the  amount  of  revenue  secured,  which  is 
commensurate  with  the  activity  and  enterprise  of  our  citizens.  Every 
successive  year,  for  the  last  ten,  has  shown  a  like  increase.  In  referring 
to  the  statement  furnished  for  1831,  we  find  that  in  that  year  sixty  dif- 
ferent boats  arrived  in  our  harbor,  and  the  number  of  entries  was  532 ; 
the  aggregate  amount  of  tonnage,  7,769  tons,  and  the  amount  of  revenue 
accruing  from  the  same,  was  $2,167,45.  Thus  it  will  be  seen,  that  in  this 
comparatively  short  period,  our  commerce  has  more  than  doubled.  Our 
advancement  has  not  been  stimulated  by  a  feverish  excitement,  nor  can 
it  be  said  to  have  increased  in  the  same  ratio  as  many  other  places,  but 
it  has  been  firm  and  steady,  and  nothing  is  permanent  which  is  not 
gradual.  The  prosperity  of  our  city  is  laid  deep  and  broad.  Much  as 
we  repudiate  the  lavish  praises  which  teern  from  the  press,  and  little  as 
we  have  heretofore  said,  we  cannot  suffer  this  occasion  to  pass,  without  a 
few  remarks  on  the  changes  which  are  going  on  around  us.  Whether 
we  turn  to  the  right  or  to  the  left,  we  see  workmen  busy  in  laying  the 
foundation,  or  finishing  some  costly  edifice.  The  dilapidated  and  antique 
structure  of  the  original  settler,  is  fast  giving  way  to  the  spacious  and 
lofty  blocks  of  bricks,  or  stone.  But  comparatively  a  few  years  ago — 
even  within  the  remembrance  of  our  young  men — our  town  was  con- 
fined to  one  or  two  streets,  running  parallel  with  the  river — the  '  half- 
moon  '  fortifications ;  the  bastion,  the  tower,  the  rampart — were  then 
known  as  the  utmost  limits.  What  was  then  termed  the  '  hill,'  now 
forming  the  most  beautiful  part  of  the  town — covered  with  elegant  man- 
sions— but  a  few  years  ago  was  overrun  with  shrubbery.  A  tract  of  land 
was  purchased  by  a  gentleman  now  living,  as  we  have  understood,  for 
two  barrels  of  whiskey,  which  is  now  worth  half  a  million  of  dollars. 
Here  and  there  we  meet  a  few  of  the  early  pioneers,  men  who,  like  those 
who  possessed  the  land  before  them,  are  fast  fading  away,  and  their  places 
are  taken  by  another  generation.  But  we  cannot  do  justice  to  those 
'  who  have  gone  before  us.'  Prolific  as  the  subject  is,  our  object  is  to 
speak  of  the  present.  No  one  who  consults  the  map,  can  fail  to  perceive 
the  foresight  which  induced  the  selection  of  the  site  on  which  this  city 
is  founded.  She  already  commands  the  trade  of  a  larger  section  of  ter- 
ritory, with  a  few  exceptions,  than  any  other  city  in  the  union.  With  a 
steamboat  navigation  more  than  equal  to  the  whole  Atlantic  sea-board — 
with  internal  improvements,  projected  and  in  progress — with  thousands 
of  emigrants  spreading  their  habitations  over  the  fertile  plains  which 
everywhere  meet  the  eye — who  can  deny  that  we  are  fast  verging  to  the 
time,  when  it  will  be  admitted  that  this  city  is  the  '  LION  OF  THE  WEST.'* 
We  do  not  speak  from  any  sectional  bias,  nor  would  we  knowingly  de- 
ceive any,  but  we  firmly  believe  that  any  one  who  will  candidly  weigh 
the  advantages  we  possess,  will  admit  that  our  deductions  are  correct. 
We  have  no  desire  to  see  our  citizens  making  improvements  beyond  the 
means  they  possess.  As  we  have  before  remarked,  nothing  is  permanent 
which  is  not  gradual.  We  take  pleasure  in  bearing  testimony  to  the 

*  Newspaper  writers  then,  as  now,  were  not  very  particular  about  the  proper  ap- 
plication of  metaphors,  and-  in  their  blundering  hurry  would  frequently  invest  tho 
female  with  the  terrible  attributes  of  the  rougher  gender. 


354  THE   GREAT   WEST 


prudence  and  foresight  which  have  characterized  our  citizens.  They  have 
avoided,  in  a  commendable  manner,  the  mania  which  has  too  fatally  pre- 
vailed in  many  places.  It  has  a  deleterious  influence  on  the  ultimate 
success  of  a  community. 

"  The  improvements  which  are  contemplated  in  the  spring,  will  have  a 
decided  effect  on  the  appearance  of  the  city.  Many  of  the  buildings 
will  be  of  a  superior  order  of  architecture.  Among  the  latter  will  be  a 
theatre,  a  church,  and  hotel. 

"  We  fear  that  the  scarcity  of  competent  workmen  will  deter  many  of 
the  improvements  contemplated,  from  being  completed. 

"  Intimately  connected  with  the  prosperity  of  the  city,  is  the  fate  of 
the  petition  pending  in  Congress,  for  the  removal  of  the  sand-bar  now 
forming  in  front  of  our  steamboat  landing.  It  is  a  source  of  no  incon- 
siderable importance  to  every  one,  and  connected  as  it  is  with  the  com- 
merce of  the  western  section  of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  we  cannot 
but  hope  that  Congress  will  give  a  speedy  ear  to  the  petition,  and  grant 
an  appropriation  which  will  effectually  remove  this  growing  obstacle. 
There  can  be  but  one  opinion  in  regard  to  its  justice.  Relying,  as  we  do, 
on  the  good  faith  of  the  government,  we  cannot  harbor  the  idea  that  we 
shall  be  defeated." 

Amid  the  heterogeneous  population  which  nocked  to  the  city  at  this 
time,  were  many  gamblers  and  persons  of  suspicious  character,  who 
followed  their  nefarious  operations  and  took  every  opportunity  to  prey 
upon  the  unwary.  The  whole  of  the  southern  country  appeared  to  have 
swarmed  with  persons  of  this  description,  to  the  great  injury  of  society 
and  the  prosperity  of  business.  Without  the  canopy  of  attempted  con- 
cealment, they  pursued  their  unlawful  business  and  scoffed  at  interference, 
until  the  citizens  of  Vicksburgh,  at  a  public  meeting  of  the  most  respect- 
able citizens,  declared  that  every  gambler  should  leave  the  city  in  twenty- 
four  hours.  The  gamblers  laughed  at  this  edict,  which  they  thought  was 
only  a  pretended  demonstration  and  would  not  be  enforced;  and  if  at- 
tempted to  be  enforced,  they  thought  their  numbers  and  their  known 
desperate  character  could  offer  sufficient  protection.  They  disobeyed  the 
commands  of  the  citizens,  which  had  been  duly  served  upon  them,  and 
when  they  found  that  the  resolutions  of  the  meeting  were  being  enforced, 
they  armed  themselves,  and  killed  a  young  physician  of  promise  and  pop- 
ularity. This  murder  turned  hatred  into  vengeance ;  and  having  seized 
upon  all  who  had  not  escaped,  the  citizens  resolved  upon  a  speedy  retrib- 
utive punishment.  The  gamblers  were  bound  and  taken  to  the  outskirts  of 
the  city,  and,  without  shrift  or  trial,  summarily  executed  upon  the  gallows. 

This  act  of  the  citizens  of  Vicksburgh  arising  from  extremity,  and 
which  can  only  be  palliated  upon  that  ground  and  never  justified,  re- 
ceived the  cordial  endorsement  of  many  cities  in  the  Union.  Public 
meetings  were  held  in  Cincinnati,  Louisville,  Charlestown,  and  other 
towns,  approving  of  the  mode,  and  counselling  similar  measures.  The 
law  was  not  sufficient  to  arrest  this  evil ;  and  when  the  people  of  Vicks- 
burgh, in  attempting  to  get  themselves  rid  of  it  by  high-handed  measures, 
lost  one  of  their  number  by  the  hands  of  the  gamblers,  and  then  hung 
them  sine  jure,  sine  gratia,  the  people  of  the  Union  sustained  them. 

The  citizens  of  St.  Louis  determined  to  rid  themselves  of  the  gamblers, 
idlers,  and  loafers  who  corrupted  the  morals  and  manners  of  society, 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  355 

destroyed  many  a  fair  fame,  blighted  youthful  hopes,  and,  like  malarious 
exhalations,  infected  every  thing  within  their  influence. 

John  F.  Darby  was  mayor  of  the  city ;  and  immediately  an  ordinance 
was  passed  for  trying  those  persons  suspected  of  having  no  honorable 
means  of  obtaining  a  livelihood,  and  subjecting  them  to  punishment.  A 
man  being  at  the  head  of  municipal  affairs,  whom  it  was  well-known 
would  execute  laws  with  the  same  spirit  with  which  they  were  created, 
struck  terror  into  the  gambling  fraternity,  and  all  others  who  lived  by 
preying  upon  society ;  and  when  the  law  was  at  once  put  into  action, 
and  several  well-known  characters  were  brought  before  the  mayor's  tri- 
bunal and  sentenced  to  imprisonment,  there  was  a  general  exodus  of  the 
bad  class  of  individuals,  and  the  city  comparatively  freed  from  their 
presence.* 

St.  Louis,  so  bountifully  favored  by  nature  in  location,  was  materially 
assisted  in  its  advance  by  the  enterprise  of  its  inhabitants.  Most  of  the 
immigrants  who  had  swelled  her  population  were  men  of  intelligence, 
ambition,  and  business  qualifications,  who  were  prompt  to  adopt  any 
measures  which  could  benefit  the  city  and  its  inhabitants.  A  great  na- 
tional road  was  building  across  the  Union,  which  would  pass  through  the 
principal  cities  of  the  Western  states;  and  in  1835,  a  meeting  of  the 
citizens  of  St.  Louis  was  called,  in  pursuance  of  a  proclamation  by  John 
F.  Darby,  the  mayor,  for  the  purpose  of  memorializing  Congress  to  let 
the  road  cross  the  Mississippi  at  St.  Louis,  in  its  extension  to  Jefferson 
City.  The  mayor  presided  at  the  meeting,  and  George  K.  McGunnegle 
acted  as  secretary.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  draft  the  memorial, 
and  much  interest  was  felt  in  the  great  national  road. 

There  was  a  sand-bar,  which  had  collected  in  front  of  the  city,  and 
straightway  the  inhabitants  instructed  their  representatives  in  Congress  to 
make  an  appropriation  for  its  removal.  The  sum  appropriated  was  fifteen 
thousand  dollars  at  that  time,  which  was  afterward  much  increased,  to 
improve  the  harbor. 

The  railroad  mania  had  commenced  to  seize  upon  some  of  the  old  states 
which  bordered  the  Atlantic,  and  the  journals  of  the  whole  country  were 
teeming  with  the  advantages  which  a  successful  trial  of  the  new  systen 
of  improvement  had  indicated  in  the  sections  of  the  country  where  it 
was  carried  into  effect  The  citizens  of  St.  Louis  immediately  caught 
the  enterprising  contagion,  and  they  determined  that  their  own  exertions 
should  not  be  wanting.  An  Internal  Improvement  Convention  was  called 
in  St.  Louis,  which  the  different  counties  of  the  state  interested  in  the 
movement  were  invited  to  attend.  The  call  was  promptly  attended  to, 
and  on  the  20th  of  April,  1835,  the  convention  met  at  the  court-house, 
and  was  organized  by  calling  Dr.  Samuel  Merry  to  the  chair,  and  appoint- 
ing G.  K.  McGunnegle  secretary.  The  names  of  the  gentlemen  represent- 
ing their  respective  counties  who  were  present  were  as  follows : 

From  St.  Louis  County — Edward  Tracy,  Major  J.  B.  Brant,  Colonel  John  O'Fallon, 
Dr.  Samuel  Merry,  Archibald  Gamble,  M.  L.  Clark,  Colonel  Joseph  C.  Laveille, 
Thornton  Grimsley,  H.  S.  Geyer,  Colonel  Henry  Walton,  Lewellyn  Brown,  Henry 
Von  Phul,  George  H.  McGunnegle,  Colonel  B.  "W.  Ayres,  Pierre  Chouteau,  jr.,  and 
Hamilton  R.  Gamble. 

*  Mr.  Darby  was  elected  mayor  in  the  spring  of  this  year  (1835.) 


35G  THE    GKEAT   WEST 


From  Lincoln  County — Colonel  David  Bailey,  Hans  Smith,  Emanuel  Block,  Benjamin 
W.  Dudley,  and  Dr.  Bailey. 

From  Washington  County — Dr.  J.  H.  Relf,  Philip  Cole,  John  S.  Brickey,  Jesse  H. 
Mcllvaine,  Myers  H.  Jones,  James  Evans,  and  W.  C.  Reed. 

From  Cooper  County — Benjamin  K.  Ferry,  N.  W.  Mack,  and  William  H.  Trigg. 

From  Warren  County — Carty  Wells.  Nathaniel  Pendleton,  and  Irvine  S.  Pitman. 

From  St.  Charles  County — Edward  Bates,  Moses  Bigelow,  William  M.  Campbell,  and 
W.  L.  Overall. 

From  Galloway  County — William  H.  McCullough,  William  H.  Russell,  D.  R.  Mullen, 
Dr.  N.  Kouns,  C.  Oxley,  Jacob  G.  Lebo,  R.  B.  Overton,  and Moxley. 

From  Montgomery  County — Dr.  M.  M.  Maughas,  S.  C.  Ruby,  and  Nathaniel  Dryden. 

From  Boone  County — Dr.  James  W.  Moss,  John  B.  Gordon,  J.  W.  Keiser,  D.  M.  Hick- 
man,  J.  S.  Rollins,  William  Hunter,  R.  W.  Morriss,  and  Granville  Branham. 

From  Howard  County — Dr.  John  Bull,  Major  Alphonso  Wetmore,  Weston  F.  Birch, 
Joseph  Davis,  General  J.  B.  Clark,  T.  Y.  Stearns,  and  John  Wilson. 

From  Jefferson  County. — James  S.  McCutchen. 

It  was  particularly  urged  at  that  meeting  that  two  railroads  should 
especially  be  considered  and  recommended  to  the  legislature — one  from 
St.  Louis  to  Fayette,  and  the  other  from  St.  Louis  to  the  iron  and  lead 
mines  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state.  It  is  foreign  to  the  limits  of 
this  history  to  enter  into  any  detailed  account  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
convention;  we  will  only  remark  that  the  important  object  of  the  meeting 
was  duly  estimated,  and  the  germ  commenced  to  vegetate,  which  has 
been  the  prolific  source  of  the  numerous  railroads  which,  like  a  network, 
are  encompassing  the  •  whole  state,  and  developing  its  resources. 

After  their  deliberations  and  labors  in  conclave,  the  convention,  so  as 
to  give  a  zest  to  social  feeling,  met  at  the  National  Hotel,  which  was 
situated  on  the  corner  of  Third  and  Market  streets,  where  a  truly  epi- 
curean dinner  was  prepared  for  the  festive  occasion.  John  F.  Darby,  the 
mayor,  presided,  assisted  by  the  vice-presidents,  General  John  Ruland, 
Honorable  H.  O'Neil,  Thomas  Cohen,  Major  William  Milburn,  Beverly 
Allen,  Colonel  J.  W.  Johnson,  W.  G.  Pettus,  and  by  the  secretary,  Charles 
Keemle. 

To  support  and  further  the  enterprising  objects  of  the  convention,  the 
County  Court  appropriated  two  thousand  dollars  to  assist  in  liquidating 
the  expenses  connected  with  the  survey  of  the  two  railroads  specially 
recommended  by  the  convention. 

Immediately  following  the  convention,  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  were 
horrified  by  a  dreadful  murder  perpetrated  in  their  midst.  A  mulatto  by 
the  name  of  Mclntosh,  for  interfering  with  officers  in  discharge  of  their 
duty,  was  arrested.  He  was  being  conducted  to  prison  by  George  Ham- 
mond, deputy  sheriff  of  the  county,  and  William  Mull,  deputy  constable. 
Suddenly  breaking  the  hold  of  the  officers,  the  negro  drew  a  long  knife, 
one  of  those  formidable  weapons  frequently  carried  by  sailors,  to  make 
an  assault,  or  defend  themselves  in  case  of  attack  when  on  shore.  He 
made  a  pass  at  Mull,  but  the  officer,  by  a  celerity  of  moment,  avoided 
it.  The  next  thrust  was  better  aimed,  and  penetrated  the  left  side,  in- 
flicting a  terrible  wound.  Hammond,  the  deputy  sheriff,  during  the 
attack  upon  Mull,  grasped  the  negro  by  the  back  of  the  neck,  but  the 
latter,  being  an  active,  powerful  fellow,  wheeled  suddenly  round,  aiming 
at  the  time  his  knife  at  the  throat  of  the  officer.  It  was  a  death-blow, 
severing  all  the  large  arteries,  and,  staggering  a  few  paces,  the  worthy 
officer  expired.  The  miscreant  fled,  but  not  to  escape ;  for  Mull,  though 


AND    HICK   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  357 

bleeding  profusely,  followed  him,  and  citizens  joining  in  the  pursuit,  he 
was  soon  arrested,  and  conducted  to  prison. 

The  news  of  the  atrocious  murder  was  soon  bruited  through  the  city, 
and  the  crowd  numbering  in  a  short  time  a  thousand  persons,  gathered 
around  the  dead  body  of  the  officer,  who  was  universally  loved  and 
respected.  Soon  the  wife  of  the  murdered  man,  accompanied  by  her 
children,  came  upon  the  spot,  and  the  desolation  of  their  anguish  at  the 
sight  of  the  husband  and  father  weltering  in  his  blood,  excited  the 
sympathy  of  the  crowd,  and  moved  them  to  take  summary  vengeance 
upon  the  murderer.  The  exclamations  of  pity  soon  became  changed  into 
expressions  of  rage  and  fury.  The  cry  of  "Hang  him!  hang  him!" 
sounded  from  the  lips  of  the  multitude,  which  soon  changed,  as  they 
rushed  to  the  jail,  into  the  dreadful  sentence  of  "  Burn  him  !  burn  him  /" 

The  final  decree  was  carried  into  execution.  The  negro  was  dragged 
from  the  jail,  carried  to  the  suburbs  of  the  town,  and  was  soon  bound  to 
a  scrubby  tree,  which  was  quickly  surrounded  with  a  pile  of  resinous 
dried  wood.  The  torch  was  soon  applied,  and,  amid  the  most  piercing 
cries  and  contortions  of  the  body  as  the  flames  licked  his  quivering 
flesh,  the  victim  terribly  expiated  his  crime.* 

The  proceeding  was  an  unlawful  one  on  the  part  of  the  people;  but  it 
was  one  of  those  occasions  which  has  frequently  arisen  from  some  extreme 
enormity,  driving  the  popular  mind  beyond  the  bounds  of  reason,  and 
though  always  tolerated  can  never  be  defended,  even  by  the  wide  license 
of  that  popular  doctrine  "  vox  populi,  vox  Dei? 

The  year  1836  was  prolific  of  events  in  St.  Louis.  A  new  hotel  was 
completed,  a  new  church  was  erected,  a  city  directory  was  published  by 
Charles  Keemle,  and  the  first  corner-stone  of  the  St.  Louis  Theatre  was 
laid  on  the  afternoon  of  May  24th  on  the  corner  of  Third  and  Olive 
streets,  and  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  custom-house,  and  when 
it  was  completed  and  the  scenery  all  arranged  for  dramatic  performances, 
there  was  quite  a  furore  among  all  classes  of  people  to  see  the  first  per- 
formance on  its  boards.f 

In  August  an  exciting  election  took  place  in  the  city.  It  was  an 
election  for  governor,  and  the  candidates  for  executive  office  of  Missouri 
were  General  William  H.  Ashley  and  Silburn  W.  Boggs.  The  last  named 

fentleman,  who  belonged  to  the  Jackson  party,  was  elected,  and  James 
>rotherton  was  elected  sheriff.     The  Central  Fire  Company  of  the  City 
of  St.  Louis  was  also  incorporated  near  the  close  of  the  year. 

*  The  place  where  the  negro  was  burned  is  what  is  now  known  as  Tenth  and 
Market  streets.  It  was  then  a  common  of  gutters. 

f  The  theatre  was  called  the  St.  Louis  Theatre,  and  was  finely  finished  in  all  its 
details.  It  was  reared  at  a  cost  of  .$60,000,  and  built  after  a  design  by  L.  M.  Clarke. 

The  lot  on  which  it  stood,  60  feet  front  and  160  deep,  was  purchased  in  1837  for  the 
trifling  sum  of  $3,000.  This  price  was  then  considered  enormous.  It  was  reared 
through  the  exertions  of  N.  M.  Ludlow,  E.  H.  Beebe,  H.  S.  Cox,  Jos.  E.  Laveille, 
C.  Keemle,  and  L.  M.  Clarke.  These  gentlemen  used  the  most  untiring  exertions  to 
get  the  requisite  amount  of  stock  taken  for  its  erection. 

The  expense  of  keeping  such  a  theatre  in  a  style  corresponding  to  its  first  debut, 
proved  too  much  for  the  limited  number  of  inhabitants  at  that  time,  and  directly  the 
novelty  wore  off  for  want  of  proper  support,  drew  out  a  languishing  existence  until  pur- 
chased by  the  government.  It  was  rather  in  advance  of  the  ability  and  taste  of  the  city. 


358  THE   GREAT   WEST 


CHAPTER    VI. 

St.  Louis  in  1837. — Act  to  incorporate  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri. — Its  com- 
missioners.— Its  first  directors. — The  Bar  vs.  the  Bench. — Daniel  Webster  and  family 
visit  St.  Louis. — Their  reception. —  Speech  of  Webster. — The  great  financial  crisis 
of  1837. — Suspension  of  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri. — Ruin  of  business. — 
Death  of  David  Barton. — Murder  of  Thomas  M.  Dougherty. — Whig  Vigilance  Com- 
mittee.— Death  of  General  William  Clark. — Kemper  College  built. — Meeting  of  the 
principal  mechanics. — Establishment  of  a  Criminal  Court. — Building  of  Christ  Church. 
— Incorporation  of  the  St.  Louis  Hotel  Company,  who  built  the  Planters'  House. — 
Morus  Midticaulis  fever. — Missouri  Silk  Company  incorporated. — Extent  of  St.  Louis. 
— Incorporation  of  a  Gas-Light  Company. — Boundary  question  between  Missouri  and 
Iowa. — Difficulty  with  Illinois  concerning  removal  of  a  sand  bar. — Laying  corner- 
stone of  an  addition  to  Court-house.— Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri  throws  out  all 
the  notes  of  the  bank  not  paying  specie. — Distress  in  business. — Corner-stone  of  St. 
Louis  College  laid. — Proprietor  of  the  Argus  beaten — Dies. — Trial  of  William  P. 
Dames. — Number  of  insurance  offices  in  St.  Louis. — Murder,  fire,  and  arson. — The 
discovery  of  the  murderers,  their  trial,  and  conviction. — Their  attempt  to  escape. — 
Their  execution. — Synopsis  of  the  business  statistics  of  St.  Louis. 

1837. — This  year  commenced  propitiously  for  St.  Louis.  Most  of  the 
merchants  had  long  wished  for  a  bank  in  the  city,  and  for  several  years 
had  been  trying  to  effect  that  object,  which  was  steadily  opposed  by 
many,  who  dreaded  the  great  influx  of  paper  money  which  is  incidental 
to  bank  creation,  and  which,  under  improper  and  depraved  management, 
gives  a  momentary  and  intoxicating  spirit  to  business,  and  then  leaves  it 
in  a  prostrate  and  deranged  condition.  The  act  of  the  incorporation  of 
"The  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri"  was  approved  on  the  first  day  of 
February. 

In  the  first  bill  presented  to  the  legislature,  the  proposed  bank  was 
titled  "  The  Union  Bank  of  Missouri,"  which  was  amended  and  changed 
before  its  passage  to  "  The  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri."  T.  L.  Price, 
Thomas  Miller,  Henry  Dixon,  and  M.  S.  Bolton,  were  appointed  commis- 
sioners to  receive  subscriptions  of  stock  at  Jefferson  City  ;  Hugh  O  Neill, 
Henry  Walton,  John  B.  Sarpy,  George  K.  McGunnegle,  and  John  O'Fallon 
at  St.  Louis ;  William  H.  Duncan,  Moss  Prewitt,  Moses  U.t  Payne,  Oliver 
Parker,  and  Sinclair  Kirtley  at  Columbia ;  Felix  Valle,  Eloe  Lecompe, 
Auguste  St.  Gemmer,  and  Peter  Dufur  at  St.  Genevieve ;  James  P.  Shrop- 
shire, Sidney  P.  Haynes,  Thomas  L.  Anderson,  William  Blackey,  and 
AVilliam  Campbell  at  Palmyra;  James  Erickson,  John  J.  Lowery,  Hamp- 
ton L.  Boone,  William  L.  Ward,  junior,  and  Roland  Hughes  at  Fayette; 
Cornelius  Davy,  Oliver  Caldwell,  Samuel  D.  L.  Lucas,  Richard  Fristoe,  and 
W.  W.  Kavanagh  at  Independence ;  E.  M.  Samuel,  W.  J.  Moss,  J.  M. 
Hughes,  Greenup  Bird,  E.  Fitzgerald,  and  Samuel  Tillery  at  Liberty ; 
James  M.  White,  Israel  M.  Gready,  Peter  Smith,  John  C.  Reed,  and 
Firman  Disloge  at  Potosi;  John  Juden,  junior,  Thomas  Johnson,  John 
Martin,  A.  H.  Brevard,  and  Walton  0.  Bannon  at  Jackson ;  Jacob  Wyon, 
Robert  P.  Clark,  Henry  W.  Crowther,  Charles  Johnson,  and  N.  W.  Mack 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  359 

at  Booneville ;  and  Einanuel  Block,  David  Bailey,  G.  W.  Houston,  John 
W.  McKee,  and  Valentine  J.  Peers  at 

The  capital  stock  of  the  bank  was  five  millions  of  dollars,  and  on  the 
evening  of  the  incorporation,  at  the  election  for  president  and  directors, 
the  following-named  gentlemen  were  chosen ;  John  Smith,  of  St.  Louis, 
president  of  the  parent  bank ;  and  its  directors  were  Hugh  O'Neill, 
Samuel  S.  Rayburn,  Edward  Walsh,  Edward  Dolyns,  William  L.  Sublette, 
and  John  O'Fallon.  Of  the  branch  at  Lafayette,  J.  J.  Lowry  was  ap- 
pointed president,  and  W.  H.  Duncan,  J.  Villey,  Wade  M.  Jackson,  and 
James  Erickson,  directors.  The  Chouteau  House  was  purchased  for  its 
accommodation,  and  it  is  still  at  the  spot  where  it  was  first  located — on 
Main  near  Vine  street.* 

Nearly  at  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the 
State  of  Missouri,  a  bill  passed  the  House  for  the  expulsion  of  all  agencies 
of  foreign  banking  institutions  from  the  state.  The  Cincinnati  Com- 
mercial Agency  had  been  established  some  years  in  St.  Louis,  and  gained 
the  perfect  confidence,  not  only  of  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  but  of  the  gen- 
eral government,  which  had  deputized  it  its  fiscal  agent.  It  had  assumed 
the  business  of  the  Branch  Bank  of  the  United  States  in  St.  Louis,  and  its 
capital  had  lent  new  vigor  and  extent  to  business  which  had  otherwise 
languished  for  want  of  pecuniary  support.  After  the  creation  of  the  new 
bank,  the  general  government  was  bound  by  a  legal  provision  to  do  its 
business  through  it,  and  the  Commercial  Agency,  after  a  little  disquietude 
and  murmuring  at  the  interference  of  the  swimming  profits  it  had  been 
garnering  during  the  past  years,  when  it  had  control  of  the  funds  of  the 
general  government,  and  the  money-market  of  St.  Louis,  agreed  to  transfer 
the  debts  of  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  to  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri 
upon  rather  stringent  conditions,  which  were  at  first  refused,  and,  after  a 
little  modification  of  the  terms,  finally  accepted,  and  the  Bank  of  the 
State  of  Missouri,  with  its  large  capital,  became  the  chief  fountain 
source  of  business  prosperity.! 

It  was  blessed  in  its  birth  by  being  born  in  the  favor  and  confidence 
of  the  people,  and  did  much  in  imposing  a  check  upon  the  rapacity 
of  many  of  the  money-brokers,  who,  taking  advantage  of  a  deranged 
currency,  did  all  they  could  to  bring  into  disrepute  the  foreign  bills 
which  alone  were  in  circulation,  and  then  shaved  them  at  ruinous  dis- 
counts. Its  notes  were  looked  upon  with  the  same  confidence  as  if  they 
had  been  the  genuine  coin  which  they  represented. 

Nearly  at  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  act  to  incorporate  the  Bank 
of  the  State  of  Missouri  was  a  rupture  between  the  bench  and  the  bar  of 
the  judicial  circuit  court  held  in  St.  Louis.  The  Honorable  Luke  E. 
Lawless  was  the  presiding  judge — the  same  who  was  imprisoned  by 
Judge  Peck  on  a  former  occasion  for  contempt  of  court,  and  at  the 
same  time  suspended  from  practice  in  the  court  over  which  he  adminis- 
tered. 


*  This  was  not  the  "Old  Chouteau  Mansion,"  but  a  house  owned  by  Pierre  Chou- 
teau. 

\  An  act  of  Congress  provides  that  government  should  make  its  deposits  only  in 
state  banks,  unless  none  should  be  in  the  state ;  in  that  contingency,  it  could  deposit 
in  another  moneyed  institution. 


360  THE    GREAT   WEST 


A  meeting  was  held  by  some  of  the  members  of  the  bar,  and  they  who 
were  present  were — Henry  S.  Geycr,  Hamilton  R.  Gamble,  Beverly  Allen, 
Gustavus  A.  Bird,  John  F.  Darby,  James  L.  English,  Harris  L.  Sproat, 
Charles  F.  Lowry,  Wilson  Primm,  Charles  D.  Drake,  Ferdinand  W.  Risque, 
Alexander  Hamilton,  William  F.  Chase,  Thomas  B.  Hudson,  John  Bent, 
and  Singleton  W.  Wilson.  Henry  S.  Geyer  was  called  to  the  chair,  and 
Thomas  B.  Hudson  appointed  secretary.  The  object  of  the  meeting  was 
to  get  an  expression  of  the  opinion  of  the  chief  members  of  the  bar 
concerning  the  judicial  qualifications  of  Judge  Lawless,  and  apply  to  the 
governor  of  the  state,  through  a  series  of  resolutions,  to  prevent  his  re- 
nomination  to  office.  The  charges  against  him  were  as  follows  : 

"  Whereas,  it  is  feared  that  the  executive  of  the  state  will  nominate 
to  the  Senate  Luke  E.  Lawless,  Esq.,  the  present  judge  of  the  third  judi- 
cial circuit,  composed  of  the  counties  of  St.  Louis  and  St.  Charles,  to  be 
judge  of  said  circuit,  unless  existing  valid  objections  be  communicated, 
and  we,  members  of  the  bar  of  St.  Louis,  believing  that  valid  objections 
do  exist,  see  proper,  and  deem  it  our  duty,  to  express  the  same,  and  do 
hereby  declare  our  full  belief  in  the  truth  of  the  following  allegations: 

"  1.  That  the  said  Luke  E.  Lawless,  Esq.,  is  too  much  under  the  in- 
fluence of  impulse  and  first  impressions,  to  give  to  each  case  submitted 
to  his  judgment  a  deliberate  consideration. 

"  2.  That  he  is  too  passionate  and  impatient  while  on  the  bench,  to 
admit  a  calm  and  full  examination  of  cases. 

"  3.  That  on  the  trial  of  issues  of  fact  before  juries,  his  mind  receives 
an  early  bias,  plainly  perceivable  by  the  jury,  to  the  prejudice  of  parties. 

"4.  That  he  invades  the  rights  of  juries,  by  assuming  the  decision  of 
questions  of  fact  exclusively  within  their  province. 

"  5.  That  his  impatience  and  arbitrariness  lead  him  to  interrupt  counsel 
unnecessarily,  and  frequently  to  preclude  argument. 

"  6.  That  he  is  wanting  in  punctuality  in  attending  to  the  duties  of  the 
office. 

"  7.  That  he  is  imperious,  overbearing,  and  disrespectful  in  his  man- 
ner to  the  members  of  the  bar. 

"  8.  That  he  is  indifferent  to  the  faithful  recording  of  the  acts  of  the 
court  wherein  he  is  judge. 

"  Believing  the  above  allegations  to  be  well  founded,  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  our  full  conviction  that  Luke  E.  Lawless,  Esq., 
is  unfit,  by  the  constitution  of  his  rnind,  by  the  intemperance  of  his 
feelings,  by  his  impatience  in  the  discharge  of  official  duties,  by  his  in- 
vasion of  the  province  of  juries,  by  his  want  of  official  punctuality,  by 
his  deportment  to  the  members  of  the  bar,  and  by  his  indifference  to 
a  careful  record  of  the  acts  of  the  court  wherein  he  sits,  to  hold  the 
office  of  judge  of  the  third  judicial  circuit  of  this  state." 

The  allegations  made  against  Judge  Lawless,  although  they  might  have 
had  some  foundation  as  regarded  an  impulsive  temperament,  an  imperious 
disposition,  and  a  hauteur  of  manner  which  drew  a  chilling  line  of  de- 
markation  between  the  bench  and  the  bar,  and  gave  to  the  ermine  an  air 
of  superiority  which  was  disagreeable  to  the  attorneys  of  the  court,  still 
were  groundless  in  many  particulars.  These  were  infirmities  of  human 
nature — weaknesses  of  but  little  magnitude,  and  though  objectionable, 
were  not  sufficient  to  form  the  basis  of  disqualification  and  a  public  ex- 


AND    HER   COMMERCIAL    METROPOLIS.  361 

prossion  of  opinions.  The  other  charges  all  arose  principally  from  a 
difference  of  political  opinion,  and  the  prejudice  which  the  distant  bear- 
ing of  Judge  Lawless  would  necessarily  create.  Concerning  his  com- 
petency and  integrity,  even  envy  could  not  question  them. 

The  application  to  the  executive  failed  in  its  effect.  Judge  Lawless  was 
nominated  by  Governor  Boggs  to  the  Senate,  and  was  again  elected  to 
his  judicial  office,  which,  some  years  afterward,  he  voluntarily  resigned. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  summer  of  this  year  St.  Louis  was  honored  by 
a  visit  from  one  of  the  most  able  and  popular  statesmen  of  the  Union. 
The  worth  and  fame  of  Daniel  Webster  and  Henry  Clay  had  given  their 
names  an  ambrosial  significance,  and  they  were  regarded  with  an  affection 
bordering  upon  adoration.  It  was  thought  that  both  would  visit  the  city 
at  the  same  time. 

When  it  became  known  that  these  distinguished  statesmen  designed 
visiting  St.  Louis,  the  principal  inhabitants  of  the  city  convened  for  the 
purpose  of  making  proper  arrangements  for  the  reception  of  the  distin- 
guished guests.  The  Honorable  Robert  Walsh  was  called  to  the  chair, 
and  resolutions  adopted,  so  that  due  honors  should  be  paid  the  distin- 
guished statesmen. 

Agreeably  to  the  resolutions  of  the  meeting,  when  it  became  known 
that  Mr.  Webster  was  on  board  the  Robert  Morris,  and  approaching  the 
city,  the  committee  embarked  on  board  the  H.  L.  Kenney,  and  proceeded 
to  meet  him.  A  little  below  Jefferson  Barracks,  the  Kenney  came  along- 
side of  the  Robert  Morris,  and  the  committee  was  put  on  board.  Im- 
mediately the  boat  was  seen  with  her  streaming  banner,  the  national  flag 
was  displayed  from  the  court-house,  and  from  the  town-house,  and  on  the 
steamboats  could  be  seen  the  star-spangled  banner  in  all  the  variety  of 
size,  shape,  and  value. 

Some  days  before,  the  people  had  been  led  to  expect  that  Mr.  Clay 
would  accompany  Mr.  Webster,  and  had  expressed  some  disappointment 
when  it  became  known  that  the  pressure  of  public  business  compelled  him 
to  decline  visiting  Missouri  at  this  time;  but  when  they  saw  the  great 
"Expounder  of  the  Constitution,"  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  daughter, 
land  at  the  Market  street  wharf,  there  was  but  one  wish  among  the  thou- 
sands of  spectators  who  were  present — to  give  an  applauding  and  becom- 
ing welcome  to  the  august  guests  who  had  come  among  them. 

Before  landing,  that  Mr.  Webster  might  form  a  proper  estimate  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  town  and  the  business  that  was  done  on  its  levee,  the 
Robert  Morris  plied  some  distance  up  the  river,  and  then  returned.  The 
spectacle  was  interesting  to  the  great  statesman.  St.  Louis  had  already 
commenced  giving  significant  signs  of  her  future  greatness.  There  was 
a  mile's  length  of  steamers,  some  receiving  and  others  discharging  their 
freight.  The  levee  was  crowded  with  barrels,  boxes,  and  produce ;  drays 
and  carts  by  the  legion  loading  and  unloading  ;  and  every  thing  wearing 
the  appearance  of  thrift  and  business. 

After  Mr.  Webster  and  his  family  landed,  they  were  conducted  to  the 
National  Hotel,  situated  on  the  corner  of  Third  and  Market  streets,  where 
a  suit  of  rooms  had  been  prepared  for  their  accommodation.  They  re- 
mained several  days,  and  were  waited  upon  by  the  most  respectable 
citizens. 

So  as  still  further  to  manifest  their  regard,  the  citizens  had  made  prep- 


362  THE   GEEAT   WEST 


arations  to  give  a  public  festival  in  honor  of  their  distinguished  guests. 
The  festival  was  in  the  true  liberality  of  Western  style.  It  was  summer, 
and,  that  all  could  have  a  sight  of  the  great  patriot  and  statesman,  a 
grove  on  the  land  of  Judge  Lucas,  situated  west  of  Ninth  street,  was 
selected  as  the  spot  for  the  barbecue,  as  the  festival  was  termed.  General 
William  H.  Ashley  presided,  assisted  by  the  vice-presidents,  Messrs. 
Richard  Graham,  William  Carr  Lane,  John  B.  Sarpy,  John  Perry,  James 
Clemens,  junior,  and  James  Russell. 

A  large  number  of  citizens  were  marshalled  in  procession  by  Charles 
Keemle,  Esq.,  marshal  of  the  day,  assisted  by  a  large  number  of  deputy 
marshals,  and  a  splendid  band  of  music,  who  escorted  Mr.  Webster  to  the 
grove. 

There  were  some  six  thousand  persons  altogether  at  the  grove,  a  great 
many  of  them  being  strangers  from  the  country  and  the  adjoining  states. 
A  sumptuous  dinner,  plentifully  supplied  with  choice  liquors,  soon  put  the 
whole  company  on  the  most  sociable  footing,  and  speeches  and  compli- 
mentary toasts  were  made  and  drank  with  all  the  zest  of  happy  feeling 
and  festive  enjoyment. 

A  speech  was  expected  from  the  great  orator,  nor  was  the  great  mass 
of  people  disappointed.  Mr.  Webster  made  a  speech  of  more  than  an 
hour's  duration.  It  was  rather  a  political  speech,  but  delivered  with 
that  happy  and  massive  eloquence  for  which  he  was  so  remarkable,  and 
elicited  bursts  of  applause.  The  dinner  was  well  gotten  up,  and  all  en- 
joyed it. 

The  year  1837  is  a  year  remarkable  in  financial  annals.  The  few 
previous  years  had  borne  the  impress  of  apparent  prosperity.  There 
was  a  general  confidence  throughout  the  Union,  and,  as  has  always  been 
the  case,  the  banks  issued  their  paper  with  profusion.  Then  the  fever  of 
speculation  commenced  to  rage  throughout  the  Union,  property  and 
products  increased  in  value,  and  there  was  universal  prosperity.  It  was 
of  short  duration.  One  bank  in  the  east  failed,  and  that  was  the  first 
speck  in  the  business  horizon.  The  failure  of  that  bank  spread  abroad 
throughout  the  land,  and  public  confidence  became  alarmed.  Something 
like  suspicion  became  attached  to  the  paper  purporting  to  represent  specie, 
and  it  commenced  to  return  to  the  institutions  from  whence  it  emanated. 
The  specie  began  to  be  drained  from  the  vaults  of  the  banks,  and  soon 
another,  and  then  another  of  those  institutions  closed.  The  panic  then 
became  universal,  and  the  moneyed  institutions  became  besieged  by  the 
holders  of  the  bills,  demanding  their  redemption  in  specie.  The  banks 
failed  rapidly  one  after  another,  and  there  would  have  been  a  general 
rupture,  but  that  the  leading  banks  in  the  .city  of  New  York,  to  save 
themselves  from  ruin,  suspended  specie  payment,  which  convenient  shift, 
though  in  direct  violation  of  their  charters,  was  followed  by  all  the  banks 
in  the  Union.  The  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri  also  suspended. 

It  was  a  year  of  terror,  ruin,  and  desolation,  caused  by  a  financial 
tempest,  which  swept  from  one  end  of  the  Union  to  the  other.  Contracts 
which  had  been  entered  into  in  good  faith,  notes,  due-bills,  bonds,  mort- 
gages, from  the  ruin  of  so  many  banks,  and  the  curtailment  in  the  issue 
of  the  others,  became  impossible  to  be  met,  and  all  the  business  channels 
which  depended  upon  their  successful  termination  became  disordered  and 
languishing.  Business  firms  by  the  hundred  tottered,  and  were  wiped 


SECOND  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 
Corner  of  6th  and  Walnut  Streets. — REV.  JAMES  H.  BROOKE,  Pastor. 


CENTENARY  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 
South  corner  of  Pine  and  5th  Streets. 


OLD  RUSSELL  MANSION. 
Residence  of  THOMAS  ALLEN.  ESQ.,  Decatur  Street. 


AND    HER    COMMERCIAL    METROPOLIS.  363 

from  existence ;  families  who  had  lived  in  affluence  were  reduced  to 
penury ;  and  even  they  whose  affairs  had  been  conducted  with  the  ut- 
most prudence  and  foresight,  were  shaken,  and  suffered  by  the  storm. 
St.  Louis  gave  evidences  of  the  shock.  Many  of  the  leading  firms  of  the 
city  were  prostrated,  and  business,  which  in  a  few  weeks  before  was 
gliding  in  a  thousand  channels,  was  checked  with  fearful  suddenness,  and 
almost  exsiccated.  Having  gotten  in  most  of  their  circulations,  after  some 
months  of  careful  preparation,  the  banks  commenced  to  resume  specie 
payment,  and  for  a  few  years  conducted  their  business  with  a  worthy 
caution,  which  soon  inspired  general  confidence,  and  then  again,  tempted 
by  cupidity,  they  flooded  the  country  with  their  paper,  and  some  years 
afterward  they  were  compelled  to  resort  to  their  disgraceful  shift  of  sus- 
pending specie  payment.  When  this  crisis  took  place  we  will  hereafter 
explain. 

On  September  26th  of  this  year  David  Barton,  Esq.,  who  was  in  con- 
junction with  Thomas  II.  Benton,  the  first  United  States  senators  from 
Missouri  when  she  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  state,  died  at  the 
residence  of  Mr.  Gibson,  near  Booneville.  He  was  an  eminent  lawyer  and 
statesman.  He  presided  over  the  convention  which  formed  the  constitu- 
tion of  Missouri ;  was  twice  elected  United  States  Senator,  and  served  in 
the  State  Senate  of  Missouri  during  1834-5,  where  he  efficiently  aided  in 
the  compilation  of  the  Revised  Statutes,  which  was  ordered  at  that  time. 
He  was  a  man  of  undoubted  integrity,  distinguished  for  his  learning  and 
profound  legal  acquirements,  and  owed  his  eminence  wholly  to  his  own 
efforts. 

1838. — In  the  summer  of  this  year  there  was  a  mysterious  murder 
committed  on  the  road  between  St.  Louis  and  Carondelet.  Thomas.  M. 
Dougherty,  one  of  the  judges  of  the  county,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Linton 
Sappington,  was  coming  to  St.  Louis,  when  the  latter  stopped  at  the  grocery 
store  of  Mr.  Bussel,  immediately  upon  the  road.  When,  in  departing,  as 
he  was  in  the  act  of  mounting  his  horse,  a  black  boy  came  up  and  told 
him  that  Judge  Dougherty  was  awaiting  him.  Mr.  Sappington  rode  on- 
ward, and  at  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  store  he  discovered  his 
companion  weltering  in  his  blood  at  a  little  distance  from  the  roadside. 
He  was  breathing  heavily,  and  died  before  he  could  be  removed  to  any 
habitation.  There  was  much  excitement  regarding  the  murder,  and 
though  a  thousand  dollars  were  offered  by  his  friends  for  the  discovery 
and  conviction  of  the  murderer,  it  was  never  found  out  who  committed 
the  atrocious  deed. 

This  year  party  feeling  was  as  rampant  as  ever.  The  issue  made  be- 
tween the  Whig  and  Democratic  party  was  the  sub-treasury  scheme,  and 
the  United  States  Bank.  The  Whig  party  were  advocates  of  the  latter 
institution,  and  the  Democratic  party,  of  the  former.  There  was  also  an 
association  formed,  who  were  designated  "  The  Whig  Vigilance  Com- 
mittee," who  were  extremely  active  in  all  primary  meetings,  and  who, 
like  scouts,  were  ever  on  the  look-out  for  their  political  enemies,  and 
ready  to  apprise  of  danger.  The  following  were  "the  braves"  of  the 
party  who  enrolled  themselves  a  "Vigilance  Committee":  —  Samuel 
Gaty,  E.  T.  Christy,  John  Goodfellow,  J.  A.  Sire,  George  Sproule,  L.  A. 
Cerre,  John  Lee,  I.  A.  Letcher,  John  Calvert,  Asa  Wilgus,  William 
G.  Pettus,  Stuart  Matthews,  0.  Paddock,  Bernard  Pratte,  John  R.  Shaw, 
16 


THE   GREAT   WEST 


August  Kerr,  A.  Gamble,  H.  N.  Davis,  J.  T.  Sweringen,  B.  Clcland,  C. 
Rhodes,  C.  P.  Billon,  William  Whitehill,  Edward  Brooks,  George  Morton, 
John  Finney,  John  Leach,  S.  M.  Strother,  Charles  Collins,  John  Barclay, 
J.  B.  Sarpy,  J.  S.  Pease,  J.  II.  McMillen,  D.  Tilden,  George  Corwin,  D.  B. 
Hill,  William  Martin,  J.  B.  Lesperance,  James  F.  Comstock,  L.  Dumaine, 
N.  E.  Janney,  William  A.  Lynch,  A.  G.  Edwards,  T.  H.  West,  Edward  H. 
Beebe,  Benjamin  Ames,  T.  S.  Wilson,  George  Trask,  John  Barnes,  John 
Simonds,  jr.,  Henry 'Maxwell,  William  Morrison,  Alfred  Tracy,  Dennis 
Marks,  John  Ford,  J.  W.  Paulding,  P.  A.  Berthold,  C.  D.  Burrus,  M. 
Stitz,  William  Hay  ward,  Jotham  Bigelow,  L.  B.  Shaw,  J.  B.  Girard,  J.  J. 
Anderson,  Lewis  Bissel,  M.  L.  Clark,  W.  S.  Randolph,  Noah  Ridgely, 
Lewis  Clark,  George  Knapp,  Hiram  McKee,  Edward  Chouteau,  L.  Far- 
well,  William  Risley,  Dalzell  Smith,  J.  Christy,  John  Young,  John  Bing- 
ham,  H.  A.  Carstens,  H.  Papin,  George  W.  Lewis,  John  P.  Morris,  Samuel 
Daniels,  Jonas  Moore,  Henry  Phillips,  P.  Bartlett,  John  D.  Dagget,  Conrad 
Foulk,  Richard  B.  Dallam,  John  Lux,  Lewis  Newell,  William  Andrews,  J. 
Pritchett,  John  McDonald,  Robert  S.  Freeland,  N.  C.  Studley,  George  H. 
Callender,  John  Bobb,  and  D.  H.  Chapman. 

It  was  the  first  day  of  autumn,  and  it  became  hinted  that  Governor 
William  Clark,  the  great  pioneer  through  the  western  wilds  to  the  Pacific, 
was  dead.  He  was  then  the  oldest  American  resident  in  St.  Louis ;  he 
was  the  first  governor  of  the  territory  of  Missouri  when  it  was  changed 
from  Louisiana  Territory  to  Missouri  Territory,  and  subsequently  the 
Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs  for  the  Western  Division,  which  office 
he  held  to  his  death.  He  was  known  to  the  wild  tribes  of  Indians  from 
the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific,  and  they  regarded  him  with  a  confidence 
and  love  which  bordered  upon  idolatry.  They  even  knew  his  signature, 
and  during  the  stormy  excitement  of  their  savage  natures,  when  ready 
for  the  war-path,  either  against  the  United  States  or  some  hostile  tribe, 
would  readily  yield  to  his  counsels.  He  was  sixty-eight  years  of  age  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  and  had  collected  a  museum  of  Indian  curiosities, 
which  was  of  much  interest,  and  was  visited  by  the  distinguished  strangers 
who  came  to  the  city.  His  first  residence  was  at  the  corner  of  Vine  and 
Main  streets,  and  afterward  on  the  corner  of  Pine  and  Main  streets.  He 
died  universally  regretted. 

The  month  after  the  decease  of  General  Clark,  Kemper  College,  which 
had  been  built  principally  through  the  exertions  of  Bishop  Kemper,  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  church,  was  opened  under  favorable  auspices,  under 
the  superintendence  of  the  Rev.  P.  R.  Minard.  The  following  gentlemen 
were  the  first  trustees  of  the  institution,  which,  in  its  university  and 
medical  departments,  has  been  of  so  much  utility  to  St.  Louis  :  Right  Rev. 
Jackson  Kemper,  Robert  Wash,  William  P.  Clark,  J.  L.  English,  Charles 
Jaime,  Rev.  P.  R.  Minard,  Colonel  J.  C.  Laveille,  Augustus  Kerr,  N.  P. 
Taylor,  Edward  Tracy,  J.  P.  Doane,  W.  P.  Hunt,  H.  L.  Hoffman,  J.  Spald- 
ing,  Daniel  Hough,  Henry  Von  Phul,  H.  S.  Coxe,  and  Captain  J.  Symington. 

The  medical  department  was  erected  soon  afterward,  and  owes  its  ex- 
istence to  Dr.  Joseph  N.  McDowell,  one  of  the  most  accomplished 
physicians  of  the  age,  who  is  still  living.* 

*  The  first  proposition  that  was  made  for  a  Medical  organization  in  St.  Louis,  was 
made  by  Drs.  J.  W.  Hall  and  Joseph  McDowell,  to  Bishop  Kemper. 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  365 

The  year  1839  was  pregnant  with  prosperity  for  St.  Louis.  The  lead- 
ing mechanics  of  the  city,  so  that  there  might  be  a  unity  to  their 
efforts,  and  that  they  might  properly  co-operate  together,  called  a  meeting 
for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  Mechanics'  Exchange,  where  they  could  meet 
in  counsel.  At  this  meeting  Captain  David  H.  Hill  presided,  and  Louis 
Dubreuil  was  appointed  secretary.  Five  gentlemen  were  chosen  to  select 
a  committee  from  the  different  departments  of  business,  one  person  to 
be  selected  from  each  branch,  and  they  to  draft  a  constitution,  by-laws, 
«fec.  The  five  gentlemen  who  received  the  appointment  were,  R.  N.  Moore, 
.1.  M.  Paulding,  Asa  Wilgns,  William  A.  Lynch,  and  John  H.  Ferguson. 
These  gentlemen,  after  consultation,  submitted  the  following  names : — 
Joseph  C.  Laveille,  carpenter  ;  Daniel  D.  Page,  baker  ;  Asa  Wilgus, 
painter ;  Isaac  Chadwick,  plasterer ;  Samuel  Gaty,  founder ;  Thomas 
Andrews,  coppersmith  ;  George  Trask,  cabinet-maker;  John  M.  Paulding, 
hatter ;  James  Barry,  chandler ;  Jarnes  Love,  blacksmith  ;  Joseph  Laiden, 
chairmaker ;  Wooster  Goodyear,  cordwainer ;  William  Shipp,  silversmith ; 
John  Young,  saddler  ;  B.  Townsend,  wire  and  sieve  manufacturer  ;  J.Todd, 
burr  millstone  manufacturer;  Thomas  Gam bal,  cooper;  Francis  Raborg, 
tanner ;  S.  C.  Coleman,  turner ;  N.  Paschal,  printer ;  John  G.  Shelton, 
tailor;  B.  L.  Turnbull,  bookbinder;  Charles  Coates,  stonecutter;  Anthony 
Bennett,  stone-mason  ;  David  Shepard,  bricklayer ;  I.  A.  Letcher,  brick 
maker ;  William  Thomas,  shipbuilder  ;  Samuel  Hawkins,  gunsmith ; 
Samuel  Shawk,  locksmith  ;  A.  Oakford,  combmaker ;  N.  Tiernan,  wheel- 
wright ;  J.  B.  Gerard,  carriage-maker  ;  Moses  Stout,  plane-maker ;  James 
Robinson,  upholsterer;  and  J.  Bemis,  machinist. 

From  this  meeting  resulted  a  union  of  the  mechanics,  and  ultimately 
the  formation  of  their  Exchange. 

Early  in  the  year  the  legislature  established  the  Criminal  Court  in  the 
city,  Christ  Church  was  built  and  dedicated,  and  an  act  applied  for  the 
incorporation  of  a  Savings  Institution.  The  bill  to  incorporate  the  St. 
Louis  Hotel  Company  was  also  passed,  and  afterward  an  act  supplement- 
ary was  made,  changing  the  name  to  the  Planters'  House  and  Insurance 
Company  of  St.  Louis.  The  company  were  vested  with  very  extensive 
powers,  and  possessed  all  of  the  prerogatives  now  vested  in  fire,  life,  and 
marine  insurance  companies ;  however,  they  never  exercised  these  prerog- 
atives, and  confined  themseves,  in  their  corporate  capacity,  strictly  to 
building  the  hotel. 

The  years  1838-9  were  years  in  which  the  morus  multicaulis  fever 
raged  throughout  the  Union,  and  the  contagion  spread  to  the  west  bank 
of  the  Mississippi.  The  theory  was  a  beautiful  one.  One  acre  planted  in 
mulberry-tree  would  feed  worms  sufficient  to  produce  thousands  of  dollars 
of  silk — wealth  could  not  be  garnered  sooner  from  a  Potosi's  mine. 

With  such  dazzling  prospects  of  wealth,  the  agriculturists  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  St.  Louis,  and  throughout  the  contiguous  counties,  to  the 
almost  total  neglect  of  their  usual  crops,  commenced  raising,  in  the  great- 
est abundance,  that  tree  so  associated  with  classic  reminiscences — the 
tragic  love  of  Pyramus  and  Thisbe.  Won  by  the  easy  way  and  novel 
idea  of  realizing  a  fortune,  the  fair  sex  took  the  matter  in  hand,  and  by 
their  colloquial  speculations,  contributed  still  more  to  swell  the  current  of 
public  opinion  in  the  direction  in  which  it  already  flowed.  At  this  junc- 
ture, a  bill  was  presented  to  the  legislature  of  the  state  for  the  incorpora- 


366  THP;   GKKAT   WEST 


tion  of  a  silk  company,  to  be  established  in  St.  Louis,  and  the  Missouri 
Silk  Company  was  quickly  incorporated. 

Storms  do  not  long  brew  over  the  face  of  nature,  and  a  nation's  mono- 
mania is  of  but  short  continuance.  The  morus  multicaulis  was  a  delusion  ; 
and  when  this  apparition  of  wealth  became  manifest,  and  its  nothingness 
apparent,  thousands  who  had  been  pursuing  a  shadow  were  ruined  in  their 
fortunes.  The  visions  of  home-made  silk,  that  would  rival  in  beauty  that 
of  China  and  France,  all  departed,  and  the  Missouri  Silk  Company  that 
had  been  incorporated  by  the  legislature  quietly  died  without  entering 
upon  any  practical  duties  of  life. 

The  extent  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis  at  this  time  (1839)  was  not  com- 
parable to  what  it  is  at  the  present  time.  Then  the  city  proper  only  ex- 
tended westward  as  far  as  Seventh  street.  Beyond  that  line  there  were 
some  scattering  residences,  gutters,  and  prairie.  In  the  neighborhood  of 
Washington  avenue,  there  was,  west  of  the  boundary  of  Seventh  street 
for  a  little  distance  around,  more  buildings  than  in  any  other  quarter  in 
that  direction,  as  the  St.  Louis  College  was  situated  in  that  neighborhood; 
but  in  Chesnut  and  Market  streets,  and  all  South  B  were  gutters 
and  ponds — and  then  broken  ridges  and  prairie  beyond  Seventh  street 
to  the  west.  To  the  north  the  city  extended  to  Middle  street,  and  to  the 
south,  just  below  the  Convent  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  Outside  of  these 
limits,  north  and  south,  the  residences  were  scattering,  and  the  population 
inconsiderable.  The  population  of  the  city  was  16,187. 

The  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  possessed  always  a  large  amount  of  enter- 
prise, and  a  portion  of  its  spirited  citizens  applied  to  the  legislature  for 
the  incorporation  of  a  gas-light  company.  A  charter  was  obtained 
without  any  difficulty,  and  the  new  company  first  opened  their  office  on 
Chesnut  street,  two  doors  above  Main  street.  The  following  gentlemen 
were  its  first  directors :  Theodore  L.  McGill,  M.  L.  Clark,  K.  S.  Tilden, 
P.  R.  McCrary,  N.  E.  Janney,  H.  B.  Shaw,  J.  D.  Daggett,  and  N.  Paschal. 
It  was  many  years  afterward,  however,  before  St.  Louis  was  lighted  with 
gas. 

It  was  in  this  year  that  the  mayor's  court  was  instituted,  and  in  this 
year  also  arose  the  controversy  between  the  state  of  Missouri  and  the 
territory  of  Iowa  concerning  the  boundary  between  them.  It  was  £ 
question  which  could  have  easily  been  deferred  for  a  few  months  without 
any  public  agitation,  until  Congress  should  determine  the  proper  boundary, 
as  the  whole  matter  was  then  before  them  for  a  decision ;  but  the  polit- 
ical demagogues  of  the  day,  ever  on  the  alert  to  arouse  popular  feeling, 
and  become  leaders  in  some  factional  enterprise,  seized  an  opportunity  to 
embroil  the  authorities  of  the  state  and  territory.  Some  person  was  ar- 
rested on  the  soil  claimed  by  Missouri  by  a  process  issued  from  a  court 
in  Iowa,  and  then  came  the  clash  of  jurisdiction.  The  governor  of  Iowa 
issued  a  belligerent  message,  which  was  followed  by  one  from  the  governor 
of  Missouri,  calling  upon  all  the  civil  officers  of  the  state  to  maintain  the 
jurisdiction  to  the  territory  claimed  by  Missouri. 

The  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  were  much  excited  upon  the  occasion, 
and  were  unwilling,  let  the  consequences  be  what  they  might,  to  relin- 
quish to  the  claim  of  Iowa  one  acre  of  the  territory  which  they  knew 
belonged  to  Missouri. 

The  constitution  of  Missouri  called  for  the  northern  boundary  at  the 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  367 

Des  Moines  Rapids,  at  the  Big  Bend  of  the  DCS  Moines  river.  Iowa  con- 
tended that  the  rapids  alluded  to  were  further  south  in  the  Mississippi, 
which  were  sometimes  called  the  Des  Moines  Rapids.  There  was  no 
collision,  however,  and  when  the  line  was  established  by  Congress,  the 
decision  was  in  favor  of  Missouri. 

Just  at  the  time  that  the  difficulty  was  subsisting  between  Missouri  and 
Iowa,  the  popular  mind  in  St.  Louis  became  still  further  excited  by  one 
of  the  courts  in  Illinois  laying  an  injunction  on  the  works  that  were  pro- 
gressing for  the  improvement  of  the  harbor. 

In  a  previous  portion  of  this  work,  it  may  be  remembered,  we  alluded 
to  the  fact  of  a  sand-bar  having  been  formed  in  the  Mississippi,  in  front 
of  the  town,  which  had  commenced  to  impede  navigation,  and  had  excited 
the  fears  of  the  inhabitants  by  its  constant  increase.  A  large  appropria- 
tion of  $115,000  had  been  made  by  Congress  so  that  means  could  be 
taken  to  throw  the  channel  of  the  Mississippi  closer  to  the  western  shore. 
To  effect  this,  a  large  dyke  had  to  be  constructed,  a  portion  of  which  had 
to  rest  upon  the  Illinois  shore,  and  thinking  that  the  interest  of  a  con- 
templated town  just  laid  out  would  be  affected  in  some  manner,  the 
proprietors  applied  for  an  injunction  to  one  of  the  state  courts  of  Illinois, 
and  obtained  it.  The  work,  which  was  then  under  the  efficient  manage- 
ment of  Major  Lee,  was  suspended,  greatly  to  the  chagrin  of  the  people 
of  St.  Louis. 

By  order  of  the  County  Court,  it  was  resolved  that  a  considerable 
addition  should  be  made  to  the  court-house,  which  had  been  built  during 
1825-6.  The  corner-stone  of  the  new  addition  was  laid  with  much  cere- 
mony, and  in  the  presence  of  a  large  gathering  of  the  citizens.  Beneath 
the  stone  was  placed  a  sealed  glass,  containing  a  parchment  roll,  on  which 
the  following  was  written  : 

"The  corner-stone  of  the  new  court-house  of  the  county  of  St.  Louis, 
state  of  Missouri,  being  an  addition  to  that  erected  A.  D.  1825-6,  laid  on 
the  twenty-first  day  of  October,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  thirty-nine. — Martin  Van  Buren,  president  of  the  United  States; 
Richard  M.  Johnson,  vice-president  of  the  United  States;  Lilburn  W. 
Boggs,  governor  of  Missouri ;  Franklin  Cannon,  lieutenant-governor ; 
Matthias  McGirk,  present  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court ;  George  Tompkins, 
associate  judge  of  same;  William  B.  Napton,  associate  judge  of  same; 
Luke  E.  Lawless,  judge  of  St.  Louis  Circuit  Court ;  John  Ruland,  clerk 
and  recorder  of  same  ;  James  B.  Bovvlin,  judge  of  St.  Louis  Criminal 
Court ;  Julius  D.  Johnson,  clerk  of  the  same  ;  Mary  Philip  Leduc,  Henry 
Walton,  and  Joseph  Le  Blond,  justices  of  the  County  Court ;  Henry 
Chouteau,  clerk  of  same ;  Marshal  Brotherton,  sheriff  of  St.  Louis  county ; 
John  Bent,  circuit  attorney  ;  Henry  Singleton,  architect :  Joseph  Foster, 
builder ;  William  Carr  Lane,  mayor  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis ;  Elliott  Lee, 
marshal  of  same.  A  specimen  of  all  the  coins  of  the  United  States;  a 
copy  of  all  the  newspapers  printed  in  the  city  ;  and  copies  of  the  pro- 
grammes of  the  proceedings  of  the  day." 

From  its  first  institution,  banking  appeared  to  have  been  a  source  of 
disquietude  to  the  people  of  St.  Louis.  In  1839,  the  banks  in  most  of 
the  states  of  the  Union  had  again  suspended  specie  payment,  and  the 
directors  of  the  Bank  of  Missouri  very  wisely  and  justly  adopted  a  reso- 
lution "  that  the  bank  will,  in  future,  receive  from,  and  pay  only  to,  in- 


368  THE    GREAT    WEST 


dividuals  her  own  notes  and  specie,  on  the  notes  of  specie-paying  banks." 
When  this  resolution  became  known,  the  excitement  in  the  mercantile 
community  was  immense.  The  notes  of  the  banks  of  the  other  states 
formed  principally  the  currency  of  the  state,  and  by  this  act  of  the 
Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  all  the  notes  of  banks  which  had  suspended 
specie  payment  lost  their  character  as  representing  funds  for  the  payment 
even  of  existing  contracts.  There  had  been  a  drain  of  specie  from  the 
East,  and  the  issues  of  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  of  other 
specie-paying  banks,  together  with  the  specie  available  in  the  financial 
market,  did  not  furnish  one  tithe  of  the  money  required  for  the  payment 
of  daily-maturing  obligations.  The  merchants  were  in  a  most  distressing 
situation.  They  had  a  commercial  honor  to  preserve,  and  to  do  this,  it 
was  incumbent  upon  them  that  their  notes  should  not  go  to  protest;  and 
there  was  not  sufficient  specie  and  bankable  funds  in  circulation  to  re- 
deem their  paper.  In  this  crisis,  a  meeting  was  called  so  as  to  adopt  the 
most  feasible  measures  to  relieve  them  of  their  difficulties.  A  proposi- 
tion was  made  to  Mr.  John  Smith,  president  of  the  bank,  that  the  collec- 
tion paper  discounted  by  the  bank  up  to  that  time  should  be  paid  in  the 
same  description  of  funds  heretofore  received  by  the  bank,  and  that  the 
business  paper  discounted  by  the  bank  up  to  that  time  should,  as  far  as 
possible,  be  placed  on  the  footing  of  accommodation  paper,  the  curtail- 
ment and  discount  being  paid  in  specie  or  the  notes  of  specie-paying 
banks. 

The  president  promised  to  confer  with  the  board  of  directors,  and 
after  the  due  deliberation  of  that  body,  there  was  an  objection  to  the 
proposition,  on  the  ground  that  there  would  be  necessarily  some  depre- 
ciation of  the  funds,  which  loss  the  bank  was  unwilling  to  sustain.  So 
great  was  the  emergency  at  this  particular  juncture  in  financial  affairs, 
that  this  objection  was  met  on  the  part  of  the  most  wealthy  of  the 
citizens,  by  an  offer  to  legally  bind  themselves  to  indemnify  the  bank 
against  any  loss  they  might  sustain  by  a  depreciation  of  the  notes  of  the 
banks  heretofore  received.  The  gentlemen  who  obligated  themselves  to 
be  thus  responsible  were  Mr.  Collier,  E.  Tracy,  Pierre  Chouteau,  John 
Walsh,  William  Glascow,  John  Perry,  H.  Yon  Phul,  John  Kerr,  G.  K. 
McGunnegle,  Jos.  C.  Laveille,  and  John  O'Fallon.  There  was  a  consulta- 
tion had  by  the  directors  of  the  bank  regarding  that  proposition,  and  it 
was  determined  that  the  bank  should  adhere  to  their  original  resolution. 

The  business  part  of  the  community  had  calculated  that  the  bank,  thus 
insured  against  loss,  would  consent  to  the  proposition  made  it,  and  when 
the  refusal  was  made  known,  an  indignation-meeting  was  called,  strongly 
condemning  the  conduct  of  the  bank,  and  resolutions  passed  to  with- 
draw deposits,  and  patronize  some  other  institutions.  Many  of  the  large 
depositors  consequently  withdrew  their  funds,  and  deposited  them  in  the 
insurance  offices,  and  with  the  Gas-Light  Company,  who,  at  that  time,  did 
a  partial  banking  business. 

The  bank,  thus  deprived  of  the  support  of  its  most  wealthy  and  in- 
fluential patrons,  still  pursued  the  cautious  policy  it  had  adopted,  and 
by  thus  severing  itself  from  tottering  moneyed  institutions,  and  refusing 
their  notes,  eventually  saved  itself  from  being  linked  with  their  fall,  which 
took  place  in  a  short  time,  and  vindicated  the  wisdom  and  farsightedness 
of  the  position  which  the  directors  of  the  bank  had  assumed. 


AND    HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  369 

As  it  will  be  of  interest  to  the  reader,  we  here  give  the  number  of  ar- 
rivals and  departures  of  steamboats  for  each  month  of  the  year  1839 : 

Arrivals.  Departures. 

January 47  44 

February 49  57 

March/. 659  145 

April 210  210 

May 191  194 

June 190  183 

July 178  173 

August 119  177 

September 142  142 

October 138  150 

November ...     96  96 

December..                                                                  76  74 


Total 2,095         1,645 

1840. — In  the  spring  of  this  year,  the  Catholic  church,  which  is  at- 
tached to  the  St.  Louis  University,  and  called  the  College,  was  com- 
menced. The  corner-stone  was  laid  on  a  Sabbath  afternoon,  with  all  the 
ceremonial  observances  of  the  church,  and  in  the  presence  of  an  interest- 
ed multitude.  There  was  a  parchment  deposited  iu  the  stone,  on  which 
was  the  following  inscription  : 

Pridie  Idus  Aprilis, 

Anno  reparatse  salutis  MDCCCXL, 

Americana  Independentiae  assertae  et  vindicate 

LXIV, 

Gregorio  XVI  Pontifice  Maximo, 

Martino  Van  Buren  Fcederatse  Americae  Praeside, 

Admodum  Rev.  Patre  Joanne  Roothaan  Proposito 

Generali  Societatis  Jesu 

Lilburn  W.  Boggs  Missouri  Gubernatore, 

Gulielmo  Carr  Lane  Urbis  Sancti  Ludovici  Profecto, 

Rev.  Patre  P.  J.  Verhaegen  Vice-Provinciae 

Missourianae  Societatis  Jesu  Vice-Provinciali, 

Rev.  Patre  J.  A.  Elet  Sancti  Ludovici  Universitatis 

Rectore, 

Reverendissimus  D.  Joseph  Rosati  Episcopus  Sti. 

Ludovici,  Lapidem  hunc  angularem  Ecclesiae, 

Deo  Opt.  Max. 

Sub  invocatione 

Sancti  Francisci  Haverii, 

Atque 

Sancti  Aloysii 

Studiosse  Inventuti  patroni, 

In  Urbe  Sancti  Ludovici  aedificandae 

Assistentibus  Sancti  Ludovici  Universitatis  Rectore, 

Professoribus,  Auditoribus  ac  Alumnis, 
Necnon  D'no  Georgio  Barnett  et  D'no  Stuart  Matthews 


370  THE    GKEAT   WEST 


Architectis, 

Ac  D'no  Carolo  Cutts  muratorum  Prrefecto, 

Solemn!  ritu  benedixit  et  in  fundamentis  posuit, 

Coram  magna  populi 

Frequentia. 

In  politics  there  was  a  universal  enthusiasm  pervading  the  Whig  party 
in  St.  Louis.  General  Harrison  was  the  nominee  of  the  Whig  convention 
for  the  presidency,  and  it  was  fondly  hoped  that  the  worship  which  had 
been  paid  to  General  Jackson  a  few  years  before,  and  which  still  clung  to 
his  political  principles,  he  having  gone  into  retirement,  would  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  veteran  soldier  of  Tippecanoe  and  the  Thames ;  and  the 
predisposition  to  hero-worship  gave  that  ascendency  to  the  party  which 
for  years  it  had  strived  vainly  to  attain.  There  was  much  feeling  mani- 
fested at  the  election  for  mayor,  as  it  was  thought  a  suitable  occasion  for 
feeling  the  political  pulse  of  the  people.  There  were  three  popular  can- 
didates for  the  responsible  municipal  office — J.  F.  Darby,  J.  J.  Purdy, 
and  A.  Wetmore.  J.  F.  Darby,  the  Whig  candidate,  was  elected.  The 
election  for  county  officers  in  August  was  favorable  to  the  same  party, 
and  the  Whig  party  became  generally  triumphant. 

It  was  on  the  first  day  of  summer  that  a  violent  attack  was  made  by 
one  citizen  upon  another,  which  ultimately  resulted  in  his  death.  The 
Argus  was  the  Democratic  organ,  edited  by  William  Gilpin,  and  owned  by 
Andrew  J.  Davis.  An  article  appeared  in  its  columns,  which  reflected 
somewhat  on  the  persons  composing  a  meeting  of  which  William  P. 
Darnes,  a  respectable  citizen,  was  appointed  secretary.  There  had 
previously  been  some  political  feeling  between  Mr.  Darnes  and  the  Argus, 
and  on  the  occasion  of  the  pungent  paragraphs  in  its  columns,  which  Mr. 
Darnes  construed  to  reflect  directly  upon  him,  he  indicted  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Davis,  its  proprietor,  asking  him  if  certain  offensive  allusions  in  his 
columns  were  intended  for  him,  and  in  the  same  letter  using  contemptuous 
language  toward  Mr.  Gilpin,  the  editor.  The  reply  of  Mr.  Davis  was 
short,  acrimonious,  and  scornful ;  and  on  the  next  issue  of  the  Argus, 
Mr.  Gilpin,  who  had  been  irritated  by  the  humiliating  allusions  made  to 
him  in  the  letter  of  Darnes,  publicly  avowed  that  he  alone  was  respon- 
sible for  what  appeared  in  the  columns  of  the  Argus,  and  went  even 
beyond  the  wide  range  of  editorial  license  in  his  abusive  attack  upon  Mr. 
Darnes.  The  latter  determined  to  hold  Mr.  Davis,  the  proprietor  of  the 
paper,  responsible ;  and  had  before,  in  his  letter  to  that  gentleman,  de- 
clared that  it  should  be  his  course,  if  any  thing  offensive  was  said  of  him 
in  the  columns  of  the  Argus. 

Smarting  under  the  effects  of  the  galling  epithets  which  had  been 
publicly  applied  to  him,  Mr.  Darnes  purchased  a  small  iron  cane,  and 
attacked  Mr.  Davis  on  Third  street,  close  by  the  National  Hotel,*  and  in 
a  few  moments  brought  his  opponent  to  the  ground.  Mr.  Davis  was 
carried  into  the  hotel,  bleeding  profusely  from  his  wounds,  which  were 
principally  in  the  head,  and  after  his  injuries  were  examined  by  a 
physician,  it  was  deemed  advisable  that  he  should  be  removed  to  the 
hospital. 


*  The  National  Hotel  was  situated  on  the  corner  of  Third  and  Market  streets. 


AND    HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  371 

After  a  consultation  between  three  of  the  most  respectable  physicians, 
it  was  determined  to  trephine  him.  The  operation  was  performed,  and 
small  portions  of  spicula  were  found  upon  the  brain,  showing  that  the 
vitreous  table  of  the  skull  was  broken,  and  that  there  was  an  urgent  ne- 
cessity for  the  operation.  A  few  days  afterward  Mr.  Davis  died. 

The  trial  of  Darnes  came  off  in  November,  and  if  the  friends  of  Davis 
were  naturally  anxious  for  his  prosecution,  there  were  others  who  used 
every  effort  to  justify  him  in  the  course  he  had  taken,  and  to  shield 
him  from  the  consequences  of  his  act.  Able  counsel  were  employed 
both  upon  the  part  of  the  state  and  the  defence.  Messrs.  Engle  and 
Gantt  were  for  the  prosecution,  and  Messrs.  Geyer,  Allen,  and  Crocket 
for  the  accused. 

During  the  trial,  the  court-room  was  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity, 
and  by  a  finesse  of  argument,  which  is  ever  remarkable  in  the  legal  pro- 
fession, the  counsel  for  the  defence  contended  that  it  was  not  certain 
whether  Davis  died  from  the  etfects  of  the  blows  of  the  cane,  or  from 
the  surgical  operation  to  which  he  had  been  subjected.  To  support  them 
on  this  ground  of  their  defence,  the  testimony  of  Drs.  Knox,  Wm.  Carr 
Lane,  and  White  was  introduced  during  the  trial,  who  thought  that  there 
were  no  symptoms  requiring  the  trephine  operation,  which  was  at  all  times 
a  dangerous  one,  and  liable  to  a  fatal  termination. 

Dr.  Beaumont,  a  surgeon  of  the  United  States  army,  and  the  most  ac- 
complished writer  on  the  gastric  juice,  performed  the  operation  ;  and  did 
it  with  the  concurrence  of  Drs.  Sykes  and  McMartin.  Here  was  truly  a 
disagreement  of  the  doctors — three  pro  and  three  con.  To  enlighten 
the  jury  in  this  confliction  of  testimony  produced  by  the  medical  ex- 
amination, the  lawyers  took  the  matter  in  hand,  and  read  portions  of  the 
productions  of  the  great  lights  of  the  medical  profession  ;  discoursed 
learnedly  of  what  constituted  the  symptoms  of  compression,  the  locality 
of  the  dura  mater  and  the  pia  mater,  and  the  danger  of  spicula  remain- 
ing in  the  brain.  The  medical  authorities  were  placed  upon  a  Procrustean 
bed,  there  lopped  and  here  stretched,  to  suit  the  views  of  counsel,  until, 
after  the  stretches  of  meaning  and  mutilations,  the  authors  themselves 
would  not  have  known  their  productions. 

After  a  tedious  trial  of  two  weeks,  the  case  was  given  to  the  jury, 
who  returned  a  verdict  of  guilty  of  manslaughter  in  the  fourth  degree,  and 
the  accused  was  fined  $500.  It  was  a  time  when  the  press  stood  ready 
to  assail  any  character,  it  mattered  not  how  unexceptionable,  and  any  one 
who  had  the  courage  to  oppose  its  political  opinions,  was  certain  to  re- 
ceive the  poisonous  shafts  of  ridicule  or  abuse.  On  this  account,  the 
jury  rendered  a  lighter  verdict  than  they  would  have  done  had  not  these 
causes  existed.* 

1841. — This  year  there  were  in  existence  in  St.  Louis  ten  insurance 
companies ;  they  were  named  as  follows :  Marine  Insurance  Company, 
St.  Louis  Insurance  Company,  Floating-Dock  Insurance  Company,  Citi- 
zens' Insurance  Company,  Union  Insurance  Company,  Missouri  Insurance 
Company,  Farmers'  and  Mechanics'  Insurance  Company,  Perpetual  Insur- 

*  The  fatal  termination  of  the  difference,  was  the  result  of  accident ;  there  was  no 
death  anticipated  or  desired.  AH  of  the  parties,  at  one  time  were  friendly ;  and  had 
it  not  been  for  the  disturbing  influences  of  political  feeling,  would  in  all  probability 
have  preserved  the  most  amicable  relatiions. 


372  THE    GREAT   WEST 


ance  Company,  Gas- Light  Insurance  Company,  and  Mutual  Insurance  Com- 
pany. Many  of  these  companies  were  engaged  in  a  partial  banking  business, 
and  at  all  times,  and  more  especially  during  the  cautious  policy  of  the 
State  Bank  of  Missouri,  kept  a  large  portion  of  money  in  circulation,  which 
kept  the  currents  of  business  from  stagnation,  infused  vitality,  and  in 
many  instances  preserved  some  departments  of  trade  from  total  cessation. 

Early  on  Sunday  morning,  April  18th,  there  was  an  alarm  of  fire,  which 
proceeded  from  a  large  stone  building  located  on  the  corner  of  Pine  and 
Water  streets,  occupied  by  Messrs.  Simonds  and  Morrison,  the  rear  of 
which  was  occupied  by  Mr.  Pettus  as  a  banking-house.  The  firemen  and 
citizens  were  soon  upon  the  ground,  and,  forcing  open  one  of  the  rear 
doors,  discovered  the  body  of  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  Jacob 
Weaver,  of  exemplary  habits,  mutilated  in  a  dreadful  manner,  with  pools 
of  his  warm  life-blood  around  him.  The  fire  had  not  reached  the  body, 
and  it  was  evident  that  a  foul  murder  had  been  committed,  and,  as  the 
fire  proceeded  from  several  distinct  parts  of  the  building,  it  was  known 
that  with  the  crime  of  murder  was  joined  that  of  arson. 

However  intricate  the  mazes  of  mystery,  when  once  a  clue  is  obtained, 
a  correct  conclusion  is  soon  arrived  at;  and  when  the  body  of  young 
Weaver  was  found  and  recognized,  the  inquiry  was  at  once  set  afloat, 
where  was  his  room-mate,  Mr.  Jesse  Baker?  He  was  not  to  be  found, 
and  it  was  almost  certain  that  he,  too,  was  murdered,  and  his  body  amid 
the  ruins  of  the  destroyed  building.  On  the  next  day  it  was  discovered, 
on  removing  the  rubbish,  all  charred  and  half  consumed.  Robbery  was 
evidently  the  motive  of  the  murderers,  and  as  the  two  young  men 
were  in  the  way,  they  did  not  hesitate  to  dispatch  them  ;  and  then 
thought  that  all  evidence  of  the  crime  would  be  destroyed,  if  they  suc- 
ceeded in  successfully  firing  the  building;  but  Providence,  in  its  just  and 
mysterious  ways,  usually  disappoints  mischievous  calculations,  for  the  pur- 
poses of  retribution ;  and  in  this  case  the  body  of  one  of  the  victims  was 
discovered  before  the  flames  had  reached  it. 

The  building  was  entirely  consumed,  and  one  or  two  of  the  adjoining 
ones  were  partially  burned.  Nothing  but  the  untiring  exertions  of  the 
firemen  for  hours  saved  the  whole  row  from  conflagration.  It  was  dis- 
covered, on  examination,  that  an  effort  had  been  made  to  enter  the  vault 
of  the  banking-house  of  Mr.  Pettus,  which  was  unsuccessful. 

Things  produce  like  things  in  nature,  and  one  misfortune  is  usually  the 
parent  of  another.  While  Mr.  Ansel  S.  Kemball,  first-engineer  of  the 
Union  Fire  Company,  was  actively  at  work  trying  to  stifle  the  flames,  a 
portion  of  the  wall  of  the  building  fell,  and  crushed  him.  He  died — as 
many  noble-hearted  of  his  firemen  brethren  die — in  nobly  risking  his 
life  in  the  hour  of  danger,  for  the  protection  of  the  lite  and  property  of 
others.  This  unfortunate  occurrence  added  still  more  to  the  excitement 
already  so  rife  among  the  citizens.  The  most  experienced  of  the  police 
took  the  matter  in  hand  to  ferret  out  the  murderers  and  incendiaries; 
and  still  further  to  stimulate  their  efforts,  and  put  the  whole  country  on 
the  alert,  a  reward  of  five  thousand  dollars  was  offered  by  the  municipal 
authorities.  For  several  days  all  the  efforts  of  the  citizens  and  police 
were  fruitless ;  but  at  length  the  disclosure  was  made  by  a  journeyman 
barber  by  the  name  of  Edward  H.  Ennis,  to  a  mulatto  man,  who  resided 
in  Brooklyn,  opposite  St.  Louis ;  and  the  mulatto,  instigated  by  cupidity, 


AND    HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  373 

communicated  his  information  to  the  officials.  Ennis  was  arrested,  and 
then  he  communicated  the  following  facts:  that  on  a  certain  Saturday 
night  he  went  to  his  boarding-house,  kept  by  a  mulatto  woman  named 
Leah,  situated  on  Third  street,  between  Market  and  Walnut;  at  a  late 
hour  a  negro  slave  by  the  name  of  Madison,  came  to  the  house,  and,  after 
being  admitted,  declared  he  had  done  more  murder  that  night  than  he 
had  ever  before,  and  had  not  been  paid  for  it.  Such  language  induced 
Ennis  to  question  him  further,  when  he  learned  that  he  and  three  other 
negroes  had  been  engaged  in  the  attempted  robbery  of  Mr.  Pettus's 
banking-house.  The  names  of  the  other  negroes  were  Seward,  Warrick, 
and  .Brown.  The  manner  of  the  murder  is  best  related  by  giving  the 
able  charge  of  Judge  Bowlin  in  passing  sentence  upon  the  accused,  after 
a  fair  trial. 

THE  CHARGE  OF  JUDGE  BOWLIN, 

In  passing  sentence  on  the  four  negroes  lately  tried  and  convicted  of  the 
murders  of  the  \*lth  April  last. 

"  Madison,  alias  Blanchard,  Charles  Brown,  James  Seward,  alias  Se- 
well,  and  Alfred,  alias  Alpheus  Warrick,  you  stand  convicted  of  wilful, 
deliberate,  and  premeditated  murder.  Have  you  now,  or  either  of  you, 
any  thing  to  say  why  the  sentence  of  death  should  not  be  pronounced 
against  you  ?" 

The  prisoners,  with  the  exception  of  Madison,  who  merely  said,  "  Noth- 
ing from  me,  sir,"  remaining  mute,  his  honor  proceeded — • 

"You  have  all  been  severally  indicted  by  a  grand  jury  of  the  county  as 
follows : — you,  Madison,  for  the  murder  of  Jesse  Baker,  and  the  rest  as 
confederates,  aiding  and  abetting  in  said  murder ;  and  you,  Charles 
Brown,  for  the  murder  of  Jacob  Weaver,  and  the  rest  as  confederates, 
aiding  and  abetting  in  said  murder.  Upon  which  charges,  so  preferred 
by  the  grand  jury,  you  have  been  put  separately  upon  your  trials,  before 
traverse  juries  of  the  county — juries  selected  in  each  case  with  great 
caution,  that  they  might  be  above  all  suspicion  of  bias  or  prejudice 
against  you — and  where  you  have  been  heard  by  your  counsel — counsel 
amongst  the  ablest  of  the  bar,  in  your  defence.  So  that  it  is  not  a  matter 
of  form  to  tell  you,  that  you  have  each  had  a  fair  and  impartial  trial  be- 
fore a  jury  of  your  countrymen,  who  have  in  their  several  verdicts,  pro- 
nounced each  of  you  guilty  of  murder  in  the  first  degree.  You,  Madison 
and  Brown,  as  the  persons  who  inflicted  the  fatal  blows;  and  you,  Seward 
and  Warrick,  as  being  present  aiding  and  abetting  in  the  several  murders. 

"Upon  these  respective  verdicts,  it  becomes  the  principal  duty  of  the 
court  to  pronounce  the  sentence  of  the  law.  But,  before  doing  so,  as 
you  were  separately  tried,  and  neither  having  heard  the  particular 
evidence  given  in  the  case  of  the  other,  it  is  but  proper  that  there 
should  be  laid  before  you  a  history  of  the  case  as  derived  from  the  testi- 
mony. 

"  In  doing  this,  it  is  not  the  object  to  awaken  feelings  by  a  recital  of 
the  horrid  deed,  or  to  bring  unnecessarily  to  your  minds  painful  recol- 
lections of  the  past;  but  it  is  solely  with  a  view  to  place  the  nature  of 
your  crimes  in  such  characters  before  you  as  to  banish  all  hope  of  mercy 
from  your  fellow-men,  whose  laws  you  have  so  daringly  violated  ;  and  the 
more  strongly  to  rivet  your  attention  to  that  source  alone  for  consolation 


THE   GREAT   WEST 


where  it  is  never  too  late  to  find  mercy  and  forgiveness.  The  court  would 
not  be  discharging  its  duty  to  you  with  fidelity,  in  this  last  solemn  act 
between  you  and  it,  if  it  would  conceal  from  your  knowledge  any  thing  of 
your  true  situation.  To  leave  you  buoyed  up  with  a  false  hope,  would 
be  to  deceive  you.  Hence  it  is  deemed  proper  that  your  crime  should 
be  placed  before  you,  as  it  has  made  its  impress  upon  the  minds  of  men ; 
that  every  false  beacon  of  earthly  hope  may  be  destroyed,  and  you  the 
more  solemnly  urged  to  seek  for  consolation  at  the  throne  of  Divine 
Mercy. 

"  It,  then,  appears  from  the  testimony  in  the  case,  that  some  three  days 
before  the  ever-memorable  night  of  the  17th  of  April,  you  had  planned 
your  scheme  of  robbing  the  storehouse  of  Messrs.  Collier  and  Pettus. 
At  which  time,  it  appears,  some  compunctious  visitings  of  nature  operated 
upon  you,  and  a  difference  arose  about  adding  the  crime  of  blood  to  the 
other  contemplated  offence;  that  the  evil  demon  prevailed,  and  it  was 
finally  settled  that  even  blood  should  not  arrest  you  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  your  crime.  The  next  place  you  are  traced  to  is  at  a  meeting, 
by  appointment,  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening  of  Saturday,  the  17th  of 
April,  on  board  the  steamer  Missouri,  under  pretence  of  examining  her 
machinery.  This  was  the  meeting  preparatory  to  the  accomplishment  of 
the  crime.  You  left  the  boat,  and  stood  on  Front  street,  opposite  the 
house  of  Collier  and  Pettns,  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  proper  hour.  That 
at,  or  about  nine  o'clock,  in  the  evening,  when  a  person  might  well  have 
felt  the  most  perfect  security  in  his  counting-room  with  open  doors,  on 
one  of  the  most  populous  streets  in  the  city,  you  entered  the  counting- 
room,  that  is,  you,  Madison,  first  entered,  and  asked  of  the  young  gentle- 
man in  charge,  Jesse  Baker,  the  validity  of  a  bank-note ;  and  while,  in 
the  honesty  of  his  heart,  and  with  that  kindness  of  feeling  for  which  he 
was  conspicuous  among  his  fellow-men,  he  was  performing  an  act  of  kind- 
ness for  you,  by  examining  the  note,  and  he  was  thus  placed  off  his  guard, 
you  struck  the  fatal  blow  that  deprived  him  of  life. 

"At  this  particular  point  of  time,  there  is  some  contrariety  in  the  evi- 
dence ;  but  the  better  opinion  is,  upon  the  whole,  that  the  rest  of  you 
immediately  entered,  at  the  signal  of  the  blow.  You  searched  your  vic- 
tim for  the  keys ;  not  finding  them,  you  wrapped  him  in  bed-clothes,  and 
deposited  him  in  bed ;  and  then  went  to  work  upon  the  vault,  after  per- 
haps setting  one  or  two  sentinels.  That  you  continued  to  work  upon  the 
vault  until  Jacob  Weaver,  the  bed-companion  of  Baker,  arrived,  which  was 
about  the  hour  of  eleven  o'clock.  That  he  knocked  at  the  door,  to 
awaken  his  friend,  little  dreaming  that  he  was  sleeping  the  sleep  of  death  ; 
when,  it  appears,  a  difficulty  arose  about  who  should  be  his  murderer. 
That  horrid  duty  fell  upon  you,  Charles  Brown,  and  the  manner  of  its 
execution  was  awfully  delineated  in  the  appearance  of  the  object.  You 
took  your  station  behind  the  door,  the  rest  concealing  themselves,  and 
opened  it  for  him;  and  as  he  entered  you  felled  him  to  the  floor,  repeat- 
ing the  blows  until  he  was  dead — depriving  of  life,  in  one  moment,  a 
young  man  who  never  harmed  you,  who  was  at  once  the  pride  and  hope 
of  his  friends,  and  an  ornament  to  society. 

"  It  appears,  then,  that  despairing  of  success  in  your  attempts  upon  the 
vault,  you  fired  the  building  in  five  places,  and  left  for  j'our  respective 
homes — you,  Brown,  being  the  last  to  leave,  after  closing  the  house  and 


AND    HEK    COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  375 

throwing  away  the  key — hoping,  doubtless,  by  this  last  act  to  bury  in 
eternal  oblivion  ail  traces  of  the  awfiil  tragedy,  and  leave  the  world  to 
hopeless  conjecture  as  to  the  fate  of  its  unhappy  inmates.  In  the  burn- 
ing, you  succeeded  but  too  well :  you  destroyed  the  whole  property,  but 
not  in  time  to  conceal  the  traces  of  your  dreadful  crime. 

"During  the  heart-rending  scenes  just  recounted,  the  testimony  places 
you,  Seward  and  Warrick,  in  a  variety  of  positions — sometimes  in  the 
house,  in  the  midst  of  the  tragic  scene,  and  then  again  on  the  look-out, 
as  sentinels,  to  avoid  surprise.  In  either  situation,  the  law  makes  your 
offence  just  the  same,  in  depravity  and  punishment,  as  though  you  had 
stricken  the  fatal  blow.  And  justly  so,  for  had  you  refused  your  co- 
operation, or  had  you  made  a  timely  retreat  from  it,  the  world  might 
have  been  saved  the  recital  of  this  awful  tragedy,  and  you  the  conse- 
quence resulting  from  it. 

"Shortly  after,  you  all  must  have  left  the  building — at  about  midnight, 
when  the  city  was  wrapped  in  profound  repose,  and  men  were  dreaming 
in  their  fancied  security — they  were  started  from  their  beds,  with  the  ter- 
rible cry  of  fire.  The  citizens,  with  their  usual  alacrity,  and  with  nerves 
braced  for  a  contest  with  the  devouring  element,  repaired  to  the  scene — 
burst  open  the  doors,  and,  almost  at  the  peril  of  their  own  lives,  rushed  in, 
and  dragged  forth  the  yet  warm  body  of  young  Weaver,  bearing  upon  it 
undeniable  testimonials  of  the  awful  crime  that  had  been  committed — a 
crime  which,  for  daringness  of  design  and  boldness  of  execution,  is  almost 
without  a  parallel  in  this  country.  At  the  awful  contemplation  of  the 
reality  before  them,  men  instinctively  shrunk  with  terror  from  each  other. 
They  thought  of  the  daring  boldness  of  the  crime,  and  of  its  perpetrators 
abroad  in  the  land,  and  an  instinctive  shudder  seized  them  at  the  thought 
of  their  unprotected  homes.  Suspicion  was  abroad — and  yet  ordinary 
perpetrators  of  crime  passed  unscathed  by  its  breath.  The  daring  bold- 
ness of  its  execution  was  a  shield  against  suspicion  to  common  offenders. 
Man  knew  not  how  to  trust  his  fellow-man.  The  bonds  of  society  were 
well  nigh  sundered  when,  at  a  fortunate  moment  for  the  peace  and  security 
of  persons  and  property,  and  the  supremacy  of  the  laws,  a  conscience 
overburdened  with  a  catalogue  of  crime  had  to  find  vent,  from  the  awful 
goading  of  nature,  by  an  open  betrayal  of  the  secret — a  secret  which  has 
since  received  a  mournful  but  most  undeniable  confirmation. 

"  Thus,  in  a  moment  of  ambition  for  unhallowed  gain,  you  have  stricken 
from  existence  two  young  men,  just  entering  as  it  were  upon  the  thresh- 
old of  usefulness — in  the  spring-day  of  life — in  the  fulness  of  hope  and 
future  expectation — in  that  period  just  budding  into  manhood,  when  the 
heart  beats  responsive  to  the  calls  of  sympathy  and  humanity ;  and  that, 
without  even  the  plea  of  passion  for  an  excuse.  Their  only  fault  was, 
that  in  discharge  of  their  duty  they  stood  between  you  and  your  unholy 
covetings.  By  this  stroke,  you  have  done  a  deed  which  no  power  on 
earth  can  repair,  no  time  obliterate.  You  have  in  an  unhallowed  moment 
stricken  the  bright  cup  of  expectation  from  the  lips  of  adoring  friends, 
and  rendered  cheerless  many  an  aching  heart.  No  penitence  you  could 
offer,  would  repair  the  wrong;  but  your  fate  may  be  a  negative  example 
to  others,  to  avoid  the  path  that  leads  to  danger  and  destruction. 

"The  details  have  been  thus  minutely  recounted,  from  a  solemn  con- 
viction that  the  court  owes  it  to  you,  to  point  out  your  true  condition  in 


376  THE   GREAT   WEST 


language  not  to  be  mistaken — to  obliterate  every  false  hope  that  might 
flatter  and  deceive  you — to  give  you  a  true  idea  of  the  character  of  your 
offence,  and  the  stern  demands  of  public  justice;  and  to  urge  upon  you 
most  solemnly  to  anchor  your  hopes  before  the  Tribunal  which  is  superior 
to  all  earthly  tribunals,  and  seek  alone  for  mercy  at  the  Fountain  of 
Mercy. 

"You  have'time  left  you  for  penitence  and  prayer — for  preparation  for 
the  end  that  awaits  you.  Not  so  with  the  victims  of  your  great  crime. 
They  were  hurried  into  the  presence  of  their  Maker  unwarned  of  their 
impending  fate.  Crimes  like  yours  cannot  go  unpunished.  'Lay  not  the 
flattering  unction  to  your  souls'  that  any  hope  awaits  you  this  side  the 
grave — your  days  are  numbered — your  sands  of  life  are  almost  run.  Let 
me,  then,  urge  you  to  seek  for  consolation  and  forgiveness,  in  the  few  days 
you  have  yet  to  live,  before  the  throne  of  Him  who  holds  all  our  destinies 
in  his  hands.  Let  your  first  acts  of  penitence  be  a  full  and  frank  confes- 
sion of  your  crimes.  Lay  bare  your  hearts — strip  them  of  all  falsehoods 
and  guile — keep  no  black  memorial  harbored  there,  if  you  wish  to  render 
them  acceptable  before  the  God  of  Truth,  Justice,  and  Mercy. 

"One  word,  and  this  court  is  done.  But  that  one  word  is  the  awful 
sentence  of  the  law.  It  is,  that  you,  Madison,  alias  Blanchard,  Charles 
Brown,  Alfred,  alias  Alpheus  Warrick,  James  Seward,  alias  Sewell,  you 
and  each  of  you,  will  be  returned  to  the  jail  whence  you  came,  there  to 
be  confined  until  Friday  the  ninth  day  of  July,  and  on  that  day  you  will 
be  taken  hence  to  the  place  of  execution  ;  there,  between  the  hours  often 
o'clock  in  the  forenoon  of  that  day  and  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  to 
be  hung  by  the  neck  until  you  are  dead. 

"  May  God  grant  you  that  mercy  which,  by  your  crime,  you  have  for- 
feited from  your  fellow-men." 

After  sentence  of  death  had  been  passed,  a  strict  watch  was  kept  upon 
the  murderers,  and  they  were  heavily  ironed ;  but  the  love  of  life  will 
frequently  put  in  play  subtle  schemes,  and  call  into  action  the  most  des- 
perate measures.  A  little  knife  had  come  in  the  possession  of  one  of 
the  murderers,  and  with  this  they  succeeded  in  cutting  their  irons,  and 
then,  on  a  visit  from  the  jailer,  he  was  knocked  down,  and  the  guard, 
consisting  of  three  or  four  men,  were  frightened  or  overpowered  by  the 
desperate  villains,  who,  after  running  some  distance,  were  captured  by 
the  citizens,  and  led  back  to  the  jail,  from  which  they  did  not  emerge 
until  their  execution,  some  months  afterward.  They  were  executed  upon 
the  island  opposite  the  lower  part  of  the  city,  and  their  confessions  being 
published,  the  incidents  of  their  vicious  lives  thus  spread  abroad  in  the 
community,  ministered  to  morbid  tastes,  and  probably  brought  young  and 
guileless  minds  into  too  close  an  approximation  with  wicked  actions, 
which  can  scarcely  be  known  without  defiling. 

At  this  time  (1841)  there  were  in  St.  Louis,  two  foundries;  twelve 
stone,  grate,  tin,  and  copper  manufactories;  twenty-seven  blacksmiths  and 
house-smiths ;  two  white-lead,  red-lead  and  litharge  manufactories;  one  cas- 
tor-oil factory;  twenty  cabinet  and  chair  factories;  two  establishments  for 
manufacturing  linseed-oil;  three  factories  for  the  making  of  lead-pipe; 
fifteen  tobacco  and  cigar  manufactories;  eleven  coopers  and  nine  hatters; 
twelve  saddle,  harness  and  trunk  manufactories ;  fifty-eight  boot-and-shoe 
shops  that  manufacture  ;  six  grist-mills ;  six  breweries ;  a  glass-cutting  es- 


AND    HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  377 

tablishment;  a  Britannia  manufactory;  a  carpet  manufactory,  and  an  oil- 
cloth factory.  There  was  also  a  sugar-refinery ;  a  chemical  and  fancy- 
soap  manufactory ;  a  pottery  and  stone-ware  manufactory ;  an  establish- 
ment for  cutting  and  beautifying  marble;  two  tanneries;  and  several 
manufactories  of  ploughs  and  other  agricultural  implements. 

The  city  was  divided  into  five  wards  ;  contained  three  markets ;  a 
workhouse  ;  two  colleges — the  St.  Louis  University,  a  Catholic  institution, 
and  Kemper  College,  under  the  Episcopal  charge ;  and  the  two  medical 
colleges  attached  to  these  institutions.  There  was  also  a  Female  Seminary, 
under  the  charge  of  the  nuns  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  There  was  no  lacking 
of  churches.  Within  the  city  were  two  Catholic  churches  ;  two  Presby- 
terian, two  Methodist,  one  Baptist,  one  Associate  Reformed  Presbyterian, 
one  Unitarian,  one  German  Lutheran,  and  two  African  churches.  There 
were  also  two  orphan  asylums — one  for  males,  under  the  charge  of  the 
Sisters  of  Charity,  and  one  presided  over  by  an  association  of  Protestant 
ladies.  There  was  the  Sisters'  Hospital,  and  several  hotels,  the  largest  of 
which  was  the  Planters'  House,  which  had  been  just  completed.  The 
building  of  boats  was  commenced,  and  the  Floating-Dock  was  in  opera- 
tion. Two  boat-yards  were  also  opened  during  the  year,  and  to  Captain 
Chase  belongs  the  honor  of  starting  the  first  boat-yard  in  St.  Louis. 
Previous  to  this  time,  all  the  boats  owned  in  St.  Louis  were  built  at  some 
point  on  the  Ohio  River. 


378  THE    GREAT   WEST 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  Centenary  Church. — Death  of  General  Atkinson. — 
Of  Judge  Lucas. — Opening  of  the  Glascow  House. — Execution  on  Duncan's  Island, 
— Arrival  of  Audubon  at  St.  Louis. — Arrival  of  Richard  M.  Johnson,  of  Kentucky. 
— Death  of  Major  John  Pilcher. — Death  of  Judge  Engle. — Arrival  of  Macready. — 
His  dramatic  popularity. — Forrest. — Hackett. — Arrival  of  Professor  Sillimau. — Of 
Josiah  Quiucy,  Jr. — Briskness  of  trade  in  St.  Louis. — Unparalleled  rise  in  the  Mis- 
sissippi.— The  waters  overflow  the  levee,  and  fill  the  first  stories  of  the  buildings. — 
Consternation  of  the  inhabitants. — Reports  from  the  Illinois  and  Missouri  rivers. — 
More  than  five  hundred  destitute  families  quartered  in  the  city. — Philanthropy  of  the 
citizens. — The  three  great  floods. — Buildings  put  up  in  1844. — Death  of  Colonel 
Sublette. — Constitution  revised. — Mercantile  Library. — Death  of  Mrs.  Biddle. — Hei 
monument. — Her  charities. — Harbor  obstructions. — War  with  Mexico. — Great  ex- 
citement.— St.  Louis  Legion. — Patriotic  feeling  and  actions  of  the  citizens. — Con- 
secration of  Odd  Fellows'  Hall. — Pork-packing. 

1842. — It  was  on  May  10th  of  this  year  that  the  corner-stone  of  the 
Centenary  Church,  corner  of  Fifth  and  Pine  streets,  where  it  still  stands, 
was  laid,  in  the  presence  of  a  large  concourse  of  persons  who  had  as- 
sembled to  be  present  at  the  important  and  solemn  occasion.  A  large 
procession  was  formed  at  the  Methodist  church,  in  Fourth  street,  which 
was  composed  of  many  citizens,  officiating  clergymen,  ladies  of  the  Cen- 
tenary Society,  and  the  Masonic  fraternity.  Bishop  Roberts,  at  the 
laying  of  the  stone,  offered  an  appropriate  and  zealous  prayer,  and  a  hymn 
was  sung,  in  which  many  voices  participated.  The  address  was  most 
eloquent,  and  was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  E.  R.  Ames. 

On  the  following  month  (June),  the  funeral  obsequies  of  General  Henry 
Atkinson  were  performed  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hedges,  the  chaplain  of  Jef- 
ferson Barracks,  of  which  military  post  the  deceased  was  thte  superior 
officer.  General  Atkinson  had  efficiently  served  his  country  during  the 
war  of  1813  and  the  Black  Hawk  war.  He  gathered  military  laurels  at 
both  of  these  trying  periods,  and  possessing,  in  addition  to  his  martial 
fame,  the  civic  virtues,  he  was  endeared  not  only  to  his  brother  officers, 
but  to  a  large  class  of  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis. 

Five  months  had  scarcely  elapsed  after  the  demise  of  General  Atkinson, 
when  the  bier  of  Judge  John  B.  C.  Lucas  was  followed  to  its  last  resting- 
place  by  a  large  concourse  of  citizens.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers 
of  Missouri,  when  it  was  the  District  of  Louisiana,  having  received  from 
President  Jefferson  the  appointment  of  the  office  of  judge  of  the  highest 
court  of  the  newly-acquired  territory.  He  continued  in  that  high  and 
responsible  office  during  the  administrations  of  Messrs.  Madison  and  Mon- 
roe. He  also  received  from  Mr.  Jefferson  the  appointment  of  commissioner 
for  the  adjustment  of  land-claims  of  Upper  Louisiana,  and  continued  in 
that  office  until  1812.  He  was  a  man  of  untiring  industry,  and  studiously 
faithful  to  the  responsible  trusts  which  had  been  committed  to  him. 

1843. — In  May  a  large  number  of  invited  guests  sat  down  to  dinner  in 
the  spacious  salle  d  manger  of  the  Glascow  House,  located  on  the  corner 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  379 

of  Olive  and  Second  streets.  It  was  on  the  occasion  of  the  first  opening 
of  the  new  hotel,  and  Messrs.  Wiley  and  Scollay,  the  enterprising  lessees, 
had  a  dinner  prepared  that  wonld  have  satisfied  the  requirements  of 
royalty.  It  was  an  occasion  of  conviviality,  and  the  guests  entered  with 
spirit  upon  their  undertaking.  The  smoking  viands,  exhaling  their  incense, 
were  attacked  with  hungry  vigor,  and  the  wine-cups,  sparkling  and  danc- 
ing with  the  vitality  of  the  luscious  fluid,  were  pressed  to  lips  that  knew 
how  to  appreciate  their  contents.  Then,  as  the  conversation  gradually 
flowed  in  the  warm  channels  of  convivial  discourse,  and  the  blood  quick- 
ened to  and  fro  from  hearts  pulsating  with  the  friendly  emotions,  reserve, 
cold  indifference,  and  worldly  policy  took  flight  from  the  festive  scene, 
and  left  for  a  brief  season  hearts  and  minds  undisturbed,  and  consecrated 
wholly  to  convivial  enjoyment.  Each  mind  poured  forth  its  tribute  to 
the  occasion.  There  was  droll  hurnor,  Attic  wit  and  wisdom,  with  its 
useful  axioms,  and  shorn  of  all  austerity. 

On  the  next  day,  March  3d,  what  a  contrast  to  the  festive  scene  was 
presented.  At  an  early  hour  in  the  morning,  there  was  a  small  crowd 
collected  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  jail,  which  rapidly  increased,  until 
about  eleven  o'clock  the  street  in  that  vicinity  was  almost  impassable. 
At  that  hour,  companies  of  military  marched  to  the  jail,  and  then  the 
prison  doors  were  thrown  open,  and,  attended  by  the  officers  of  the  prison 
and  a  clergyman,  a  youth  of  nineteen  years,  pale  and  emaciated  from  long 
confinement,  walked  with  feeble  step  again  under  the  broad,  bright  canopy 
of  heaven.  The  name  of  the  youth  was  Henry  Johnson,  who  had  been 
sentenced  to  death  for  the  murder  of  Major  Floyd,  who  was  a  resident  of 
St.  Louis  county.  In  the  dead  of  night,  this  gentleman's  house  was  visited 
by  five  men,  who  wantonly  beat  him  to  death,  terrified  his  wife  almost  to 
distraction,  and  robbed  his  house  of  a  large  sum  of  money.  Two  of  the 
supposed  murderers  had  been  fairly  tried,  and  found  guilty,  and  both 
sentenced  to  death;  from  some  informality  in  the  law,  the  sentence  of  one 
of  them  had  been  staid.*  In  Johnson's  case  there  was  nothing  interposed 
to  prevent  the  execution  of  the  law. 

There  was  an  awe  pervading  even  the  heterogeneous  and  immoral  mul- 
titude who  had  assembled  to  witness  the  dying  struggles  of  a  fellow-being. 
As  the  military  took  up  the1  line  of  march  to  Duncan's  Island,  where  the 
gallows  was  erected,  one  muffled  drum  alone  emitted  a  dolorous  sound. 

When  the  procession  arrived  at  the  gallows,  the  young  prisoner  ascend- 
ed it  with  a  firm  step,  and  cast  his  wistful  eyes  upon  the  city  that  stood 
with  its  thousands  of  buildings  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Father  of 
Waters.  What  thoughts  were  rushing  rapidly  through  the  mysterious 
mechanism  of  mind  'twere  vain  to  say ;  but  his  forlorn  and  lingering 
look  indicated  that  it  was  a  farewell  view,  and  that  it  was  a  struggle  for 
his  youthful  spirit  to  sever  itself  from  the  ties  of  life,  which  were  woven 
of  the  blooms  of  an  April  existence.  He  was  awakened  from  a  longer 
indulgence  in  his  half-dreamy,  half-waking  meditations  by  the  marshal 
asking  him  if  he  wished  to  say  any  thing  to  the  multitude.  The  young 
man  then  spoke  in  a  voice  tremulous  at  first,  but  gathering  strength  as  he 
proceeded,  swelled  at  times  in  full  volume,  and  reverberated  with  the 

*  McLean,  one  of  the  supposed  murderers,  was  tried  three  times,  and  finally  ac- 
quitted. 

17 


380  THE    GREAT   WEST 


strains  of  genuine  eloquence,  lie  solemnly  protested  his  innocence,  and 
a  total  ignorance  of  the  crime  for  which  he  was  about  to  suffer.  His 
accents  bore  the  impress  of  truth,  and  carried  conviction  to  many  minds; 
but  the  stern  mandate  of  the  law  must  be  obeyed,  and  the  marshal  pro- 
ceeded to  adjust  the  fatal  cord  to  his  neck.  For  a  moment  the  young 
man  gave  way  to  a  sensation  of  weakness,  and  the  warm  tears  rolled 
copiously  down  his  blanched  cheeks.  It  was  but  a  moment,  and  the  tears 
were  staid,  his  gaze  upon  the  crowd  was  firm  and  unwavering,  and  so 
remained  until  the  cap  was  drawn  over  his  eyes,  and  then  the  spring  was 
touched,  and  the  young  man's  spirit  returned  to  the  heavenly  source  from 
whence  it  emanated,  there  to  be  judged  by  an  unerring  Justice,  whose 
edicts  are  palliated  by  infinite  mercy. 

One  of  the  known  murderers  of  Major  Floyd,  some  time  afterward,  in 
making  a  confession,  declared  that  Johnson  died  an  innocent  man.  If  such 
should  be  the  case,  which  is  strongly  supported  by  his  declaration  of  in- 
nocence upon  the  scaffold,  it  affords  another  argument  in  favor  of  the 
abolition  of  capital  punishment,  and  is  another  unfortunate  instance  of  an 
innocent  life  being  offered  as  a  victim  to  a  barbarous  code,  which,  strange 
to  say,  civilization  and  religion  in  their  progressive  and  merciful  changes 
have  not  as  yet  nullified. 

The  very  day  of  the  execution,  an  individual  stopped  at  the  Glascow 
House,  and  immediately  that  his  name  was  registered,  there  was  almost 
instantaneously  a  buzz  of  excitement  in  the  hotel,  which  gradually  spread 
throughout  that  locality.  He  upon  whom  the  gaze  of  all  rested  appeared 
to  be  unconscious  that  he  was  the  "  observed  of  all  observers ;"  and  in- 
deed there  was  nothing  in  his  attire  and  demeanor  that  would  prompt 
inquiry  or  excite  attention — there  was  no  "glass  of  fashion  or  no  mould 
of  form."  On  the  contrary,  the  individual  was  plainly  clad,  and  looked 
much  like  an  honest  farmer  from  the  country.  He  wore  the  livery  of  age, 
for  his  hair  was  thin  and  blanched ;  yet  there  was  freshness  in  his  com- 
plexion, a  sparkle  in  his  eye,  and  an  elasticity  in  his  step  that  showed  that 
liis  was  a  "  green  old  age,"  and  that  the  vital  currents  had  not  become 
chilled  and  sluggish  in  their  circulation.  It  was  Audubon,  the  great 
naturalist,  and  hence  the  talisman  of  that  name  which  was  kno'wn 
throughout  the  civilized  world,  had  drawn  Universal  attention  to  him. 
He  was  then  on  a  journey  from  the  East  to  the  Yellowstone,  in  pursuit 
of  his  favorite  science,  that  he  might  add  new  specimens  to  his  rare  col- 
lection. In  a  few  days  he  took  passage  in  one  of  the  boats  of  the  Amer- 
ican Fur  Company,  and  after  several  months  of  absence,  during  which  he 
went  above  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone,  and  having  enriched,  by  fur- 
ther discoveries,  his  department  of  science,  he  returned  to  St.  Louis  on 
his  way  home,  without  being  at  all  worsted  by  his  long  travel. 

A  few  weeks  after  the  departure  of  Audubon,  Colonel  Richard  M.  John- 
son, of  Kentucky,  visited  St.  Louis.  The  old  hero  beneath  whose  hand 
Tecumseh  fell,  could  not  complain  of  the  want  of  public  attention.  Had 
he  had  any  vanity  of  that  kind,  it  must  have  been  amply  gratified.  He 
was  feasted,  toasted,  and  probably  bored,  by  his  officious  friends  and  ad- 
mirers, and,  no  doubt,  departed  from  St.  Louis  with  the  satisfaction  of 
knowing  that  hero-worship  was  in  furore  among  its  inhabitants. 

Early  in  the  summer,  Major  John  Pilcher,  one  of  the  oldest  citizens 
of  St.  Louis,  died.  He  was  one  of  the  most  enterprising  inhabitants, 


AND    HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  381 

and  had  been  extensively  engaged  in  the  Indian  trade,  and  identified  with 
all  the  great  measures  tending  to  the  welfare  and  advancement  of  his 
native  city. 

1844. — In  February  of  this  year,  Judge  P.  Hill  Engle,  for  some  years 
judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  died,  after  a  lingering  illness,  lie 
was  a  man  of  ability,  and  so  amiable  in  his  conduct  of  life,  that  he  had 
the  good  fortune  to  make  no  enemies,  and  to  disarm  all  prejudice.  There 
was  a  universal  mourning  at  his  death. 

At  this  time,  so  much  had  the  growth  of  the  southern  portion  of  the 
city  increased,  that  the  inhabitants  resolved  to  build  a  place  of  worship 
for  their  accommodation  ;  and  the  cornerstone  of  a  Catholic  church  was 
laid  with  much  ceremony  in  Soulard's  Addition. 

In  June,  the  people  of  St.  Louis  were  thrown  into  rapturous  excitement 
by  the  arrival  of  Macrcady,  then  in  the  zenith  of  his  genius,  and  the 
most  finished  actor  of  his  time  that  trod  the  dramatic  boards.  He  first 
played  the  character  of  Macbeth,  and  invested  him  with  the  genuine 
characteristics  intended  by  the  great  dramatic  author.  The  Scottish  hero 
was  brave  and  ambitious,  and,  according  to  the  spirit  of  his  age,  there 
was  in  his  character  a  leaning  to  the  dark  doctrines  of  superstition. 
Hence  the  predictions  of  the  "Weird  Sisters"  were  looked  upon  with 
favor,  and  when  the  first  prophecy  was  accomplished  by  the  munificence 
of  his  sovereign,  he  began  to  think  how  he  could  assist  Fate  in  its  inten- 
tions toward  him.  Though  ambitious  and  longing  to  realize  the  golden 
dreams  which  possessed  him,  he  shuddered  from  the  commission  of  any 
direct  crime,  and  when  his  wife  urged  him  to  murder,  so  as  to  seize  the 
crown,  he  shuddered  with  instinctive  horror  at  the  shedding  of  blood ;  but 
when  his  dagger  was  imbrued  with  the  life-blood  of  his  sovereign,  and 
the  Rubicon  of  virtue  was  passed,  there  was  no  more  shuddering — he 
went  with  all  of  his  native  boldness  for  removing  by  assassination  all 
whom  he  suspected  of  loyalty  to  his  departed  king.  The  phantoms  of 
those  he  had  murdered  caused  but  a  momentary  horror,  and  the  fierce 
promptings  of  his  nature  were  not  all  subdued  even  during  the  pres- 
engp  of  the  apparitions.  Then  his  faith,  still  in  the  predictions  of  the 
"Weird  Sisters,"  though  shut  up  in  a  small  castle,  believed  it  to  be  im- 
pregnable— it  could  not  be  taken  "  till  Birnam  do  come  to  Dunsinane," 
and  when  the  wood  came  against  his  fortress,  by  that  device  with  which 
every  schoolboy  is  familiar,  even  then  he  believed  himself  safe — he 
hugged  still  the  prophetic  delusion  that  "  None  of  woman  born  shall  harm 
Macduff."  At  his  meeting  with  Macduff,  when  the  hope  of  the  last  proph- 
ecy was  dispelled,  he  gathered  all  of  his  terrors  around  him,  and  died, 
fighting  to  the  last,  as  befitting  a  Scottish  hero.  Macready  in  Macbeth  is 
Macbeth  living  and  breathing  again,  or,  by  the  metempsychosis  theory,  the 
spirit  of  the  departed  chieftain  had  entered  the  corporal  nature  of  the  actor, 
and  swayed  and  directed  his  movements.  The  people  of  St.  Louis  were 
enraptured  by  the  finished  and  chaste  acting  of  Macready  in  Macbeth, 
and  his  first  night  before  the  curtain  more  than  equalled  their  expectation. 

This  was  the  first  visit  of  the  great  tragedian  to  the  growing  and 
thriving  city  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi.  He  made  many  friends, 
and  added  to  his  fame.  When  it  was  announced  that  he  was  to  play 
Byron's  Werner,  the  jammed  house  was  not  more  than  one-fourth  of  the 
multitude  that  was  desirous  of  hearing  him  in  that  play,  which  he  has  i.m- 


382 


THE   GREAT    \VKST 


inortalized  more  than  the  great  bard  who  created  it.  Werner  without 
Macready  would  never  have  had  a  fame. 

Sixteen  years  have  elapsed  since  that  period,  and  the  thirty-four  thou- 
sand inhabitants  have  increased  six-fold,  and  the  young  city  has  become 
of  mammoth  proportions;  yet  there  is  no  theatre  reared  which  corre- 
sponds with  the  extent,  wealth,  and  wants  of  the  great  metropolis.  This 
should  not  be;  for  the  legitimate  classic  drama  is  the  most  elevating  of  all 
amusements.  It  pleases  and  instructs,  and  prevents  the  introducing  of 
low  and  depraved  taste  in  the  community. 

After  the  departure  of  Macready,  Forrest  visited  St.  Louis,  and  his  fine 
acting,  so  much  assisted  with,  his  splendid  physical  efforts,  created  a 
division  in  public  sentiment  as  to  whom  should  belong  the  bay  wreath. 
Should  it  encircle  the  brow  of  Macready  or  Fore.st?  This  was  the  second 
advent  of  Mr.  Forest  in  St.  Louis,  and  he  was  followed  by  the  inimitable 
Hackctt,  then,  too,  in  his  palmy  days,  and  his  Falstaff  became  the  talk  of 
the  city. 

In  May  were  assembled  at  St.  Louis,  at  one  time,  several  of  the  dis- 
tinguished men  of  the  day — Professor  Silliman,  who  was  on  a  scientific 
visit  to  Missouri  and  Illinois,  Josiah  Quincy,  Jr.,  afterward  president  of 
Harvard  College,  and  Charles  F.  Adams,  son  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  ex- 
president  of  the  United  States. 

The  spring  trade  had  opened  most  auspiciously  for  St.  Louis.  Her 
levee  was  crowded  with  boats  unloading  and  receiving  all  kinds  of  mer- 
chandise ;  country  merchants  from  every  western  locality  had  Hocked  to 
the  city,  and  purchased  liberally  of  the  wholesale  merchants  ;  buildings 
were  putting  up  in  every  direction  ;  there  was  a  great  demand  for  labor 
at  enormous  prices;  property  was  increasing  in  value  at  an  unprecedented 
ratio ;  and  there  was  a  briskness  and  vitality  in  every  department  of  busi- 
ness which  had  never  before  been  witnessed. 

Nature  has  its  clouds  and  its  sunshine,  and  the  world  its  seasons  of  pros- 
perity and  misfortune.  The  prospects  of  St.  Louis  received  a  check  and 
a  blight  which  will  ever  be  a  marked  event  in  its  history.  It  had  been 
prophesied  by  several  old  Indians  and  hunters  in  the  preceding  autumn 
that  there  would  be  a  great  rise  in  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  rivers. 
They  had  grown  wise  in  the  philosophy  of  observation,  and  had  observed 
that  the  bears  and  some  other  animals  made  their  holes  higher  by  several 
feet  in  the  banks  of  the  river  than  they  had  ever  done  before.  Hence 
these  seers  pronounced  that  the  waters  would  rise  to  an  extraordinary 
height  the  coming  spring,  which  the  instinct  of  the  animals  had  led  them 
to  foresee,  and  they  consequently  built  their  holes  at  a  greater  height  from 
the  water's  edge  than  usual.  Late  in  the  spring,  there  was  a  considerable 
rise  in  the  rivers,  but  nothing  indicating  the  height  that  had  been  pre- 
dicted. June  came,  and  about  the  10th  of  the  month,  rumors  reached  St. 
Louis  that  the  Illinois  and  Missouri  rivers  were  rapidly  rising,  and  at  many 
points  had  overflowed  their  banks.  The  Mississippi,  too,  had  commenced 
to  swell,  and  was  gradually  verging  toward  the  curbstones  in  Front  street, 
and  was  forming  small  lakes  in  the  American  bottom,  on  the  opposite 
shore.  On  the  next  day  none  of  the  levee  was  seen,  and  the  Father  of 
Waters  swept  in  his  angry  course  the  eastern  pavement  of  the  city.  The 
inhabitants  had  now  become  somewhat  alarmed,  and  the  merchants,  on 
Front  street  in  particular,  seemed  nervous  and  anxious,  and  commenced 


AND    HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  383 

to  remove  some  of  their  goods  from  the  first  floor  to  the  upper  stories  of 
the  building.  By  the  16th  of  the  month,  the  curbstones  of  Front  street 
were  covered,  and  the  water  was  running  in  the  lower  stories  of  Battle 
Row  and  Laurel  street. 

In  lllinoistown  and  Brooklyn,  the  first  stones  of  the  houses  were  sub- 
merged, and  the  inhabitants  took  refuge  in  the  upper  apartments.  Boats 
ran  direct  from  St.  Louis  to  the  Pap  House,  situated  a  mile  from  Illinois- 
town,  and  the  American  bottom  was  covered  with  a  sheet  of  water. 

There  was  then  a  universal  alarm,  and  the  rise  of  the  Missisippi  was  the 
theme  of  every  conversation.  Many  thought  that  it  would  rise  no  higher; 
but  those  who  were  in  the  sunset  of  life  shook  their  heads  ominously  and 
said  "  the  worst  had  not  come  yet."  They  spoke  the  truth.  On  the 
17th  the  sidewalks  on  Front  street  were  entirely  covered  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Locust  street,  and  above  Vine  the  first  stories  of  the  stores  com- 
menced to  fill.  Then  a  panic  spread  not  only  throughout  Front  street, 
but  the  merchants  even  in  Main  street  felt  alarmed  at  the  increasing  flood, 
which  was  continually  rising  and  with  fearful  rapidity. 

At  this  time  the  Mississippi  presented  a  grand  but  awful  appearance. 
Its  current  was  turbid,  and,  as  it  rushed  along,  it  emitted  that  howling 
fretful  volume  of  sound  peculiar  to  angry  waters.  It  was  filled  with  drift- 
wood; rails,  and  stacks  of  straw  and  hay  were  seen  hurrying  upon  its  current, 
and  carcasses  of  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  and  swine  showed  the  fearful  destruc- 
tion it  had  been  making.  Now  and  then,  too,  fragments  of  a  barn  or  house 
were  borne  swiftly  to  the  south,  which  was  evidence  that  human  habitations 
had  been  encroached  upon,  and  that  the  inhabitants  had  either  become  a 
prey  to  the  angry  waters  or  had  been  compelled  to  abandon  their  homes 
to  save  their  lives.  Joined  with  the  evidences  of  destruction  and  alarm 
rumor  was  busy  with  her  thousand  tongues  in  exaggerating  every  fact, 
increasing  the  general  panic,  and  making  the  murky  prospects  still 
murkier.  It  was  stated  that  the  Missouri  was  rising  at  the  rate  of  seven 
feet  in  twenty-four  hours.  That  the  whole  country  between  Weston  and 
Glascow  was  submerged,  and  that  the  tops  of  the  highest  trees  in  the  bot- 
toms only  stuck  out  like  sea-weed  in  this  great  sea  of  waters.  That 
houses  and  barns  had  been  swept  away,  and  in  many  instances  human  lives 
had  been  lost.  Whole  acres  of  soil  had  been  torn  away  and  melted  in 
a  moment  by  the  rushing  flood.  In  many  instances  human  beings  were 
seen  clinging  to  immense  piles  of  drift,  and  some  of  whom  were  saved  by 
the  passing  boats,  but  most  of  them  were  lost  as  the  fragments  of  drift 
gave  way  and  left  them  to  the  eddying  current,  which  in  a  moment  swal- 
lowed them  in  its  vortex.  It  was  stated  also  that  the  Illinois  River  was 
rising  pari  passu  with  the  Missouri,  and  was  higher  than  was  ever  known 
before.  The  town  of  Naples  was  said  to  be  so  completely  inundated  that 
boats  could  ply  in  the  streets,  and  the  inhabitants  had  entirely  forsaken 
it  and  gone  to  the  bluffs,  where  they  lived  in  tents.  It  was  reported  also  that 
Beardstown  too  was  fast  being  submerged  and  was  deserted,  and  many  of 
the  river  towns  were  in  the  same  deplorable  condition. 

It  is  true  that  many  of  these  reports  were  swelled  much  beyond  the 
measure  of  truth,  but  all  the  fiction  had  its  foundation  in  fact.  The  Mis- 
souri and  Illinois  rivers  had  risen  each  to  a  height  never  witnessed  before. 
They  had  overflowed  all  of  the  vast  bottoms  through  which  they  coursed, 
and  had  in  many  instances  overflowed  the  streets  of  the  towns  that  bor- 


384  THE    GREAT    WEST 


clered  their  banks,  and  swept  away  stock  of  every  description,  some  mer- 
chandise, household  furniture,  and  barns  and  houses;  some  few  lives  had 
also  been  lost. 

The  elements  which  compose  human  nature  frequently  develop  them- 
selves in  strange  inconsistencies  under  certain  circumstances.  It  is  stated 
that  when  the  plague  raged  with  its  frightful  mortality  in  London,  Con- 
stantinople, and  other  eastern  cities,  that  the  inhabitants  gave  a  license  to 
all  their  desires,  and  endeavored  to  follow  to  the  utmost  the  old  maxim, 
dum  vivimus,  vivamus.  Not  knowing  how  soon  they  might  be  swept  off 
by  the  awful  malady,  they  endeavored  to  make  the  most  of  the  moments 
of  life  which  hung  by  so  precarious  a  tenure.  The  places  of  amusement 
were  filled  to  their  utmost  capacity,  strains  of  music  floated  upon  the 
wings  of  the  breeze  that  were  laden  with  the  poison  of  the  pest ;  and 
the  sounds  of  revelry  were  heard  in  the  streets  and  dwellings  mingled 
with  the  groans  and  shrieks  of  the  dying,  and  the  rattling  of  the  dead- 
carts  hurrying  the  dead  bodies  to  their  burial-place.  In  St.  Louis,  when 
the  report  of  the  vast  destruction  of  property  and  of  human  life  on  the 
Missouri  and  the  Illinois  rivers  was  the  universal  theme  of  conversation, 
and  was  believed,  and  when  the  stores  all  along  Front  street  were  filling 
with  water,  and  the  flood  still  rising  higher  and  higher;  and  when  there 
was  almost  a  total  suspension  of  business,  and,  together  with  the  loss  of 
time  and  profit,  it  was  apparent  that  business  would  be  crippled  materially 
for  many  months,  the  theatre  was  crowded  nightly.  Forrest  was  playing 
his  series  of  characters,  which  he  has  so  happily  chosen,  and  which  he 
has  perfectly  mastered. 

It  was  the  evening  of  June  18th  that  he  appeared  as  the  Gladiator,  a 
character  peculiarly  adapted  to  his  superb  physical  excellence.  Every 
portion  of  the  theatre  was  packed,  and  the  immense  crowd,  many  of  whom 
were  suffering  from  the  presence  of  the  flood  upon  their  property  and 
from  the  suspension  of  business,  and  whose  prospects  were  all  ominous  of 
evil,  cheered  and  cheered  the  great  actor  again  and  again,  and  seemed,  in 
the  wild  excitement,  intent  on  forgetting  that  the  angry  waters  of  the 
Mississippi  were  rising  higher  arid  higher,  and  consequently  the  desolation 
would  become  greater  and  more  extensive ;  and  when  the  great  tragedian 
in  the  chef-d'oeuvre  of  his  acting  as  the  dying  gladiator,  in  every  attitude, 
and  in  every  lineament,  in  his  gasping  breath  and  dying  resignation, 
looked  as  if  he  might  have  been  the  prototype  of  that  splendid  creation 
of  Puget's  from  the  chiselled  marble,  a  heartier  burst  of  applause 
netfer  greeted  him  in  any  city.  However,  when  the  curtain  fell  and  the 
wild  excitement  was  over,  a  large  portion  of  the  audience  rushed  from  the 
theatre  towards  the  levee  to  sec  and  hear  if  the  river  was  still  rising.  As 
yet  there  was  no  relief  to  mental  suffering,  for  the  news  obtained  from 
those  whom  they  met  was,  that  the  river  was  still  rising. 

On  the  morning  of  the  18th  the  levee  was  early  visited  by  a  number  of 
the  anxious  inhabitants,  and  their  gloom  was  still  increased  to  witness 
further  encroachments  on  the  town  by  the  high-waters.  For  the  greater 
part  of  the  day  a  large  crowd  stood  in  the  upper  stories  of  the  houses  on 
Front  street,  watching  the  destructive  flood  sweeping  by,  carrying,  in  its 
resistless  course,  carcasses  of  animals,  ruins  of  buildings,  and  whole  trees 
of  mammoth  proportions,  which  had  been  rent  from  the  soil.  Nearly  all 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  American  bottom  had  fled  their  homes  and  taken 


AND   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  385 

refuge  on  the  bluffs,  where  most  of  them  were  in  a  state  of  suffering  and 
destitution.  There  were  some,  too,  who,  loth  to  quit  their  homes,  and 
hoping  clay  by  day  that  the  flood  would  subside,  had  remained  in  their 
dwellings  until  they  were  so  surrounded  by  the  high-water  that  they  could 
not  leave  them,  and  were  threatened  to  be  swept  away  momentarily  by 
the  swollen  water.  Immediately  that  their  precarious  condition  was 
known  in  St.  Louis,  sympathy  was  at  once  enlisted  in  their  behalf,  and 
boats  went  to  their  rescue,  and  many  families,  in  this  way,  were  snatched 
from  impending  fate. 

On  the  morning  of  the  19th,  the  river  was  found  still  advancing.  Boats 
plied  between  St.  Louis  and  the  bluffs,  and  when  the  necessities  of  the 
sufferers  there  encamped  were  fully  understood,  they  received  from  pri- 
vate charity  many  donations. 

On  the  20th,  the  river  still  rose,  but  not  with  the  former  rapidity.  By 
the  report  of  the  city  engineer,  the  flood  was  three  feet  four  inches  above 
the  city  directrix  (the  curb-stone  on  Front  street,  south  side).  The  news 
was  still  gloomy.  The  Kansas  River  was  reported  to  be  still  rising,  though 
the  Missouri  was  stationary.  Some  contended  that  it  was  the  June  rise, 
which  proceeded  from  the  melting  of  the  snows  in  the  mountains,  which 
always  swell  to  a  great  magnitude  the  streams  which  flow  from  them. 
Others  declared,  that  if  it  were  the  June  rise,  the  water  would  be  of  a 
colder  temperature.  Each  steamboat  that  came  from  the  Missouri  and 
Illinois  rivers  had  on  board  families  that  had  been  rescued  from  their 
homes,  which  had  become  surrounded  and  partially  submerged  by  the 
water.  Each  of  them  had  the  same  tale  of  sorrow — their  all  was  lost  by 
the  flood. 

On  the  morning  of  the  21st  it  was  fondly  hoped  that  the  river  would  be 
found  not  so  much  risen  during  the  night,  and  at  early  dawn  there  was 
many  an  anxious  step  that  approached  the  levee,  but  there  was  disappoint- 
ment again,  the  river  was  still  rising.  In  the  southern  part  of  the  city 
nearly  all  the  land  between  Second  and  Front  streets  was  submerged,  and 
all  the  low  portions  of  ground  between  Second  and  Third,  and  Third  and 
Fifth  streets,  were  under  water.  Many  of  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  took 
oar  boats  and  rowed  across  the  American  bottom,  which  a  few  weeks  be- 
fore had  promised  a  most  abundant  yield  of  oats,  and  on  which  the  corn 
had  just  commenced  its  summer  growth.  They  described  the  rushing  of 
the  swollen  torrent  through  the  forest  as  terrific ;  and  the  current  was 
filled  with  the  remnants  of  destroyed  property. 

On  the  morning  of  the  22d,  friends  greeted  each  other  with  the  same 
dolorous  exclamation — the  river  is  rising.  So  great  was  the  reported  dis- 
tress and  danger  of  the  inhabitants  up  the  river  that  General  Bernard 
Pratte,  the  efficient  mayor  of  St.  Louis,  took  the  responsibility  of  sending 
boats  to  their  relief.  Many  of  the  inhabitants  who  had  doubtless  remained 
in  Brooklyn  and  Venice,  thinking  daily  that  the  flood  would  subside, 
were  rescued  from  impending  fate.  The  boats  found  many  families  five 
or  six  miles  back  in  the  interior  living  in  the  upper  stories  of  their  isolated 
dwellings,  having  no  means  of  escape.  In  one  instance,  the  cattle  and 
horses  were  standing  on  the  most  elevated  spot  up  to  their  flanks  merged 
in  the  water. 

It  was  truly  a  time  for  the  sympathies  of  the  truly  noble  natures  to  de- 
velop themselves,  and  it  is  a  bright  record  to  leave  to  posterity  to  say  that 


386  THE   GREAT   WEST 


sympathy  was  not  wanting.  The  captains  of  the  steamboats  were  in- 
defatigable in  their  exertions  to  save  life  and  property,  and  were  prodigal 
in  their  sacrifice  of  time  and  labor  to  effect  their  laudable  intentions.  A 
report  was  in  circulation,  that  several  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of 
Madison,  Illinois,  we're  suffering  and  in  danger  of  being  swept  off  by  the 
flood,  and  immediately  Captain  W.  W.  Green,  W.  J.  Austin,  and  others, 
acting  under  the  influence  of  generous  feelings,  determined,  if  possible,  to 
start  instantly  to  their  assistance.  They  communicated  with  Captain 
Edward  Saltrnarsh  of  the  Monona,  and  he  at  once  offered  to  start  with  his 
boat,  without  compensation,  to  assist  them  in  their  philanthropic  object. 
He  was  seconded  by  Captain  E.  H.  Gleim,  of  the  steamboat  Sarah  Ann, 
who  offered  a  supply  of  wood  for  the  voyage.  More  than  thirty  citizens 
volunteered  for  the  occasion,  and  several  inhabitants  were  rescued  from 
perilous  situations. 

60  sensible  were  the  citizens  who  accompanied  Captain  Saltrnarsh,  of 
the  generous  sacrifice  which  prompted  him  to  put  in  use  his  boat,  without 
any  hope  of  reward,  for  the  object  of  relieving  suffering  humanity,  that 
they  organized  a  meeting  on  the  Monona,  of  which  Archibald  Carr  was 
president,  and  Isaac  B.  Thomas  was  secretary;  William  J.  Austin  then, 
in  an  appropriate  manner,  stated  the  object  of  the  meeting,  and  it  was  re- 
solved, that  a  committee  should  be  selected,  who  would  draft  resolutions 
suitable  to  the  occasion.  The  gentlemen  forming  the  committee  were,  A. 
O.  Bowen,  W.  W.  Green,  William  J.  Austin,  F.  E.  Robertson,  and  James 
McKown.  The  resolutions  were  as  follow : 

"  Resolved,  That  we  hereby  tender  our  thanks  to  Captain  Edward  Salt- 
marsh,  for  the  generous,  humane,  and  prompt  manner  in  which  he  has  em- 
ployed his  boat,  the  Monona,  in  efforts  to  relieve  the  sufferers  by  the  flood 
in  our  sister  state  of  Illinois. 

"Resolved,  That  the  crew  of  the  Monona  on  her  this  day,  having  vol- 
unteered their  services,  are  worthy  American  citizens,  with  hearts  to  feel 
and  hands  to  labor  for  the  unfortunate  and  the  suffering ;  and  such  are 
the  men  to  sail  under  the  stars  and  stripes  of  our  land. 

"Resolved,  That  we  also  express  our  thanks  to  Captain  E.  H.  Gleim,  of 
the  steamboat  Sarah  Ann,  for  his  generous  supply  of  wood  from  his  boat, 
for  the  Monona,  and  also  for  his  own  exertions  on  board  the  Monona  as 
one  of  our  party. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  secretary  of  this  meeting  present  a  copy  of  these 
resolutions  to  Captain  Saltmarsh  and  Captain  Gleim,  and  also  publish  the 
same  in  the  city  papers." 

In  St.  Louis  there  were  more  than  five  hundred  persons  who  had  been 
driven  from  their  homes  by  the  flood,  and  nearly  all  of  them  were  depend- 
ent upon  the  charity  of  the  citizens  for  their  support.  It  was  fortunate 
that  it  was  summer,  and  that  inferior  lodgings  were  no  great  deprivation. 
The  new  tobacco  warehouse,  which  had  been  erected  the  preceding  year 
by  Colonel  Brant,  was  occupied  by  many  of  the  sufferers,  and  many  barns 
and  outhouses  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city  were  likewise  filled.  It  should 
be  borne  in  mind,  that  even  before  the  flood,  there  were  not  near  dwellings 
sufficient  in  St.  Louis  for  the  demand  of  the  population,  and  this  new  ac- 
cession to  the  number  of  inhabitants  brought  every  old  tenement  and 
vacant  outhouse  into  requisition. 

So  as  properly  to  attend  to  the  wants  of  the  sufferers,  a  meeting  of  the 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL    METROPOLIS.  387" 

citizens  was  held  in  front  of  the  court-house,  and,  on  motion  of  A.  B. 
Chambers,  Bernard  Pratte  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  Henry  B.  Belt  was 
appointed  secretary.  It  was  then  resolved  that  a  committee  of  twenty 
should  be  appointed  to  carry  out  the  objects  of  the  meeting,  and  the  fol- 
lowing gentlemen  were  appointed  for  the  purpose,  viz.,  John  M.  Wimer, 
John  Set'ton,  W.  Glasgow,  John  Simonds,  Ferdinand  Kennett,  T.  B.  Targee, 
Asa  Wilgus,  Rene  Paul,  A.  Gamble,  Charles  C.  Whittlesey,  Dr.  Simmons, 
A.  B.  Chambers,  Frederick  Kretschrnar,  W.  Furness,  Dr.  Adreon,  William 
Lowe,  T.  Polk,  W.  C.  Jewett,  W.  R.  Dawson,  and  Henry  Singleton. 

The  committee,  after  consultation,  recommended  that  application  should 
be  made  to  the  city  council  to  appropriate  some  funds  for  the  relief  of  the 
sufferers,  and  that  a  committee  of  five  should  be  appointed  to  solicit  sub- 
scriptions in  each  ward.  The  suggestions  of  the  committee  were  acted 
upon,  and  the  following  gentlemen  were  nominated  to  collect  gratuities: 

For  1st  ward,  Matthias  Steitz,  H.  G.  Soulard,  John  Dunn,  William  Horine, 
and  John  Withnell.  For  2d  ward,  Hiram  Shaw,  S.  M.  Sill,  J.  G.  Barry, 
George  Morton,  and  John  J.  Anderson.  For  3d  ward,  John  B.  Sarpy, 
J.  B.'Brua,  A.  L.  Mills,  T.  B.  Targee,  and  Gibson  Corthron.  For  4th 
ward,  George  A.  Hyde,  Colonel  George  Mead,  Robert  P.  Clark,  J.  B. 
Camden,  and  Jacob  Hawkins.  For  5th  ward,  N.  Aldricli,  A.  Carr,  John 
Leach,  John  Whitehill,  and  J.  G.  Shancls.  For  6th  ward,  Dennis  Marks, 
W.  Field,  James  Gordon,  and  T.  O.  Duncan.  There  was  also  a  committee 
appointed  to  distribute  among  the  sufferers  the  sums  collected  from  pri- 
vate bounty. 

It  is  proper  in  this  place  to  state  that  the  necessities  of  the  great  num- 
ber who  had  sought  refuge  in  St  Louis,  and  had  been  forced  by  the  flood 
to  abandon  their  homes,  were  relieved  with  almost  unparalleled  generosity. 
In  their  hour  of  tribulation  they  also  received  that  balm  so  grateful  to  the 
unfortunate,  the  consolation  distilled  by  noble  and  generous  sympathy. 
Nearly  all  contributed  according  to  their  means,  and  by  little  attentions, 
which  alone  are  generated  by  feeling  hearts  in  visiting  the  distressed, 
tried  to  call  up  again  upon  their  features  the  warm  gleams  of  hope  and 
happiness. 

On  the  morning  of  the  22d  news  came  to  St.  Louis,  by  the  boats,  that 
the  water  in  the  Upper  Missouri  was  falling,  as  was  also  the  Illinois,  and 
other  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi.  This  was  joyful  news,  but  the  Missis- 
sippi at  St.  Louis  did  not  attain  its  greatest  elevation  until  the  24th  about 
noon,  when  it  was  seven  feet  seven  inches  above  the  city  directrix.  It  had 
reached  the  top  of  the  directrix  on  the  17th  of  June,  and  it  was  on  the 
14th  of  July  that  the  retreating  waters  again  reached  its  top. 

It  becomes  a  matter  connected  with  this  history  to  state,  that  previous 
to  this  time,  St.  Louis  had  been  visited  by  three  great  floods,  one  in  1785, 
one  in  1811,  and  another  in  1826.  Of  these,  the  one  in  1785,  known  as 
Vannee  des  grands  eaux,  was  the  highest ;  but  none  of  them  attained  the 
elevation  of  the  flood  of  1844,  of  which  we  have  given  a  minute  descrip- 
tion, as  it  forms  an  era  in  the  description  of  the  city. 

The  number  of  buildings  erected  in  the  city  in  1844  was  one  thousand 
one  hundred  and  forty-six.  Even  the  ruinous  consequences  of  the  great 
flood  could  not  arrest  the  onward  progress  of  St.  Louis,  or  retard,  in  any 
material  degree,  its  prosperity. 

1845. — This  year  witnessed  the  organization  of  St.  George's  Church,  of 


388 


the  Episcopal  persuasion,  and  the  congregation  was  placed  under  the 
charge  of  the  Rev.  E.  C.  Hutchinson,  a  man  of  great  learning,  high  moral 
worth,  and  of  meek  and  exemplary  piety. 

In  the  summer  of  this  year,  the  news  reached  St.  Louis  of  the  death  of 
Colonel  William  L.  Sublette,  who  had  died  at  Pittsburgh  on  his  way  to 
Cape  May,  where  he  was  proceeding  to  effect  the  restoration  of  his  health. 
He  belonged  to  one  of  the  ancient  families  of  the  place,  and  was  one  of 
the  companions  of  General  Ashley  in  his  perilous  expedition  across  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  for  the  purpose  of  trading  with  the  Indians,  in  1820. 
When  General  Ashley  retired,  Colonel  Sublette,  who  was  one  of  his  part- 
ners, still  continued  the  trapping  business  in  connection  with  Mr.  Campbell, 
and,  employing  a  great  many  men  in  their  expeditions,  amassed  a  large 
fortune.  In  political  life  he  was  a  Democrat,  and,  in  1844,  was  the  Polk 
and  Dallas  elector  from  his  district.  His  remains  were  brought  on  to  St. 
Louis  and  interred  in  a  private  cemetery  upon  his  farm  on  the  Man- 
chester road.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  feeling,  and  his  death  was  much 
regretted. 

It  was  in  August  that  an  election  was  held  in  St.  Louis  for  members  to 
the  convention  to  revise  the  constitution,  and  Miron  Leslie  and  Trusten 
Polk  were  the  only  Democrats  elected  from  St.  Louis  county  for  that 
honorable  and  responsible  task,  the  remaining  four  being  Native  American 
candidates.  Their  names  were  as  follows : — William  M.  Campbell,  Uriel 
Wright.  Frederick  Hyatt,  and  William  W.  Bassett.  We  here  append  the 
list  of  the  elected  delegates  from  the  state  to  meet  in  convention  to  revise 
the  constitution: — Corbin  Alexander,  of  Saint  Francois  county;  Lisbon 
Applegate,  of  Chariton  ;  Jonathan  M.  Bassett,  of  Clinton  county  ;  Edwin 
D*.  Bevitt,  of  St.  Charles  county;  Jas.  O.  Broadhead,  of  Pike  county; 
Rowland  Brown,  of  Platte  county  ;  John  Buford,  of  Reynolds  county  ; 
Samuel  H.  Bunch,  of  Polk  county  ;  William  Massilon  Campbell,  of  St. 
Louis  county ;  John  David  Coalter,  of  St.  Charles  county ;  William  Mc- 
Daniel  Davies,  of  Usage  county  ;  James  Farquar,  of  Washington  county ; 
A.  Finch,  of  Dade  county  ;  Asbury  O.  Forshey,  of  Montgomery  county ; 
James  M.  Fulkerson,  of  Nodaway  county ;  Joshua  Gentry,  of  Monroe 
county ;  Robert  Giboney,  of  Stoddard  county ;  James  S.  Green,  of  Lewis 
county  ;  David  M.  Hickman,  of  Boone  county  ;  Thomas  Maddin  Horine, 
seventeenth  district;  Ezra  Hunt,  of  Pike  county;  Abraham  Hunter, 
nineteenth  district  and  of  Scott  county ;  Frederick  Hyatt,  of  St.  Louis 
county ;  C.  F.  Jackson,  of  Howard  county ;  H.  Jackson,  of  Randolph 
county  ;  B.  A.James,  of  Greene  county ;  Charles  Jones,  of  Franklin  county  ; 
William  Claude  Jones,  of  Newton  county ;  James  L.  Jones,  of  Scotland 
county;  Elias  Kincheloe,  of  Shelby  county;  M.  M.  Marmaduke,  of  Saline 
county ;  B.  F.  Massey,  of  Lawrence  county ;  John  McHenry,  of  Bates 
county ;  N.  C.  Mitchell,  of  Lafayette  county ;  James  William  Morrow,  of 
Cole  county ;  Thomas  B.  Neaves,  of  Greene  county ;  Joseph  B.  Nickel, 
of  Andrew  county ;  William  Benjamin  Pannell,  of  Gasconade  county ; 
Philip  Pipkin,  of  Jefferson  county;  Jno.  E.  Pitt,  of  Platte  county;  David 
Porter,  of  Wayne  county  ;  William  Shields,  twenty-sixth  district ;  M.  II. 
Simonds,  fifth  district;  Duke  W.  Simpson,  of  Jackson  county;  William 
Y.  Slack,  of  Livingston  county ;  Robert  M.  Stewart,  of  Buchanan  county ; 
John  F.  Stone,  of  Boone  county  ;  Theodore  F.  Tong,  of  Madison  county ; 
Thomson  Ward,  of  Platte  county  ;  Joseph  B.  Wells,  of  Warren  county  ; 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  389 

Hiram  Wilcoxsin,  of  Carroll  county ;  Uriel  Wright,  of  St.  Louis  county ; 
and  Benjamin  Young,  of  Galloway  county,  thirteenth  district.  This  year 
also  Lucas  Market  and  the  City  Hospital  were  commenced. 

1846. — We  have  before  alluded  to  the  formation  of  a  mercantile  library 
which  first  took  place  when  St.  Louis  was  but  a  good-sized  village.  For 
some  years  it  existed,  such  as  it  was,  consisting  of  a  few  hundred  books 
of  a  miscellaneous  character,  contributed  by  the  citizens,  and  but  few  of 
them  of  any  intrinsic  value.  The  little  town  had  not  physically  expanded 
sufficiently  for  mental  growth,  and  in  a  few  years  the  library  died  for  want 
of  public  spirit  to  sustain  it.  Some  years  afterward  it  was  again  resus- 
citated, and  an  effort  was  made  by  some  worthy  and  enterprising  citizens 
to  give  it  a  permanent  existence.  Liberal  donations  in  funds  and  books 
were  given  to  it,  and  it  promised  for  a  time  to  answer  the  sanguine  wishes 
of  its  friends ;  but  the  financial  storm  which  swept  over  the  whole  Union 
in  1837  totally  ruined  the  business  of  many  of  those  who  had  nurtured  it 
in  prosperity,  and,  deprived  of  their  succor,  it  became  so  involved  in 
pecuniary  embarrassments,  that  the  books  were  levied  upon  by  legal 
process,  and  would  have  been  sold,  had  not  some  noble  and  generous 
spirits  satisfied  the  demands  against  it. 

The  library  then  ceased  to  exist,  and  the  books  were  piled  away  until, 
under  more  fortunate  stars,  it  might  again  start  into  existence. 

For  many  years  the  necessity  of  a  library  where  particularly  the  young 
of  both  sexes  could  resort  to  read,  or  could  find  books  sufficient  to  satisfy 
the  cravings  of  inquiring  minds,  became  manifest.  The  little  town  had 
now  advanced  to  a  great  city,  and  commenced  to  teem  with  all  the  indi- 
cations of  wealth  and  prosperity.  Hundreds  of  boats  discharging  or  re- 
ceiving freights  upon  the  levee  showed  the  extent  of  the  commerce ; 
colossal  buildings  were  everywhere  being  erected,  overtopping  far  the 
older  residences,  and  in  every  feature  there  was  increasing  taste  and 
luxury  ;  schools  had  become  established  throughout  the  city,  and  a  taste 
for  mental  culture  had  become  predominant.  The  want  of  a  public  library 
was  then  felt  to  such  a  degree  that  measures  were  resolved  to  be  taken  by 
some  of  the  leading  citizens  to  supply  it. 

The  citizens  who  took  an  active  and  leading  part  in  the  creation  of  the 
Mercantile  Library,  which  is  now  one  of  the  boasted  institutions  of  our 
city,  should  have  their  name  recorded  in  the  history  of  St.  Louis  for  as- 
sisting in  so  laudable  a  project.  The  following-named  gentlemen  appear 
to  have  been  most  efficient  in  bringing  about  an  organization  to  accom- 
plish the  resuscitation  of  the  Mercantile  Library  : — Messrs.  Peter  Powell, 
R.  P.  Perry,  J.  S.  McCune,  Wayman  Crow,  A.  B.  Chambers,  J.  E.  Yeat- 
man,  Luther  M.  Kennett,  John  C.  Tcvis,  George  K.  Budd,  James  H. 
Lucas,  R.  K.  Woods,  F.  H.  Morgan,  Edward  Walsh.,  John  Simonds, 
William  M.  Morrison,  Morris  Collins,  John  Leach,  Taylor  Blow,  W.  H. 
Belcher,  Roberth  Barth,  John  A.  Dougherty,  Alfred  Chadwick,  Walter 
Carr,  Alexander  Peterson,  E.  Y.  Wall,  W.  L.  Kidd,  S.  A.  Ranlett,  N. 
Valle,  Junius  Hall,  John  Carson,  A.  Peterson,  J.  S.  Thomas,  I.  W.  Clark, 
A.  Ricketson,  J.  F.  Franklin,  and  Henry  D.  Bacon.  From  the  number  of 
these  gentlemen,  the  board  of  officers  and  directors  were  chosen,  which 
was  as  follows : — James  E.  Yeatman,  president ;  L.  M.  Kennett,  vice- 
president  ;  S.  A.  Ranlett,  corresponding  secretary ;  John  A.  Dougherty, 
recording  secretary  ;  R.  K.  Woods,  treasurer.  Dkectors — Robert  Barth, 


390  THE    GfeEAT   WEST 


William  M.  Morrison,  John  C.  Tcvis,  Peter  Powell,  J.  F.  Franklin,  G.  K. 
Budd,  and  A.  Peterson. 

Whoever  has  walked  in  the  vicinity  of  Tenth  and  Biddle  streets  may 
have  observed  a  monument  in  an  open  space,  on  which  is  this  simple  in- 
scription :  "  Pray  for  the  souls  of  Thomas  and  Ann  Biddle."  Some  little 
items  connected  with  this  monument  will  be  of  interest  to  the  reader, 
and  arc  intimately  blended  with  some  important  features  of  our  history. 

On  the  10th  of  January,  1846,  it  became  rumored  in  the  city  that  Mrs. 
Ann  Biddle  was  dead.  Her  great  wealth,  her  high  social  position,  and, 
withal,  her  well-known  charities  and  benevolence,  had  made  her  name 
familiar  with  all  classes  of  society,  and  her  death  served  to  create  inquiry 
and  remark.  She  was  the  daughter  of  John  Mullanphy,  of  immense 
wealth,  at  whose  instigation  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  four  in  number,  first 
visited  St.  Louis.  He  purchased  the  land  on  which  is  situated  the  Con- 
vent of  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  established  and  endowed  the  male  depart- 
ment of  the  Mullanphy  Orphan  Asylum.  She  was  also  the  consort  of 
Major  Thomas  Biddle,  whose  untimely  and  unfortunate  death  in  a  duel 
we  have  before  alluded  to. 

Mrs.  Biddle,  after  the  death  of  her  husband,  established  the  Female 
Orphan  Asylum,  and  even  gave  up  her  fine  residence  on  Broadway  as  an 
occupancy,  and  entirely  supported  it  during  the  two  years  previous  to  her 
demise.  Her  charities  did  not  cease  at  her  dissolution;  for  in  her  will  she 
left  an  appropriation  for  a  widows'  asylum,  and  to  her  te-tamentary  munifi- 
cence are  the  city  of  St.  Louis  and  humanity  indebted  for  the  Biddle  Infant 
Asylum  and  Asylum  of  Indigent  Widows  and  Lying-in  Hospital.  Not 
yet  is  the  catalogue  of  this  noble-minded  Christian  exhausted.  She  left  to 
St.  Louis  the  ground  on  which  Biddle  Market  stands,  for  the  purpose  of  a 
market ;  and  her  charitable  donations  in  every-day  life  it  would  be  impossi- 
ble to  enumerate. 

We  have  now  to  revert  to  the  monument,  with  its  meek  and  solemn 
invocation,  which  served  as  an  introduction  to  the  honorable  name  of  Mrs. 
Ann  Biddle.  She  left  the  piece  of  land  on  which  the  monument  stands 
as  a  burial-place  for  herself  and  husband,  and  bequeathed  eight  thousand 
dollars  to  enclose  it,  build  a  vault,  and  to  erect  a  monument.  The  meek 
inscription  it  bears  is  evidence  of  her  conception  of  celestial  purity ;  for 
though  her  life  had  been  spent  in  the  practice  of  those  holy  precepts 
inculcated  by  religion  and  virtue,  she  felt  that  sin  and  stain  were  insepa- 
rable from  earthly  existence,  and  the  soul  once  linked  to  corporal  life  must 
be  cleansed  by  some  propitiation  before  it  is  fitted  for  the  skies.  The 
charitable  institutions  she  has  founded  will  make  her  name  more  imperish- 
able than  the  marble  mausoleum  on  which  her  name  is  inscribed.  On  one 
side  of  the  plat  of  ground  on  which  the  vault  is  built  is  the  Orphan 
Asylum;  on  the  other,  the  Lying-in  Asylum. 

The  harbor  of  St.  Louis  had  always  been  a  source  of  uneasiness  and 
annoyance  to  the  inhabitants.  The  currents  of  the  Mississippi,  in  their 
eddying  and  wayward  motion,  continually  changed  the  channel  of  the 
river,  and  as  fast  as  obstructions  were  removed  at  one  point  they  would 
form  in  another  location,  and  seriously  impede  navigation.  As  has  been 
before  observed,  both  the  city  and  general  government  had  contributed 
to  render  it  adequate  to  the  wants  of  the  growing  city,  and  thousands  of 
dollars  had  been  spent  upon  it,  apparently  all  in  vain ;  for  in  this  year  a 


AND    HER    COMMERCIAL    METROPOLIS.  391 

sand-bar  formed  in  the  river  directly  in  front  of  the  landing,  extending 
from  Duncan's  Island  up  to  Cherry  street.  The  island  was  no  longer  a 
proper  name,  for  the  slough  in  many  places  had  become  partially  filled  up, 
and  persons  could  pass  over  to  the  main  part  of  the  island  without  water 
interference.  Along  the  levee,  south  of  Oak  street,  navigation  was  en- 
tirely suspended,  and  the  accumulation  of  sand  was  gradually  forming 
toward  the  north.  The  inhabitants  became  much  alarmed,  and  the  ne- 
cessities of  urgent  measures  became  so  apparent  that  Congress  and  the 
city  fathers  at  once  contributed  liberally  toward  clearing  the  harbor,  and 
it  was  done  in  years  afterward  in  so  efficient  a  manner  that  it  was  of  final 
benefit. 

The  commerce  of  St.  Louis,  at  this  time,  had  reached  an  extent  truly 
surprising,  and  not  only  involved  the  welfare  of  St.  Louis,  but  that  of  the 
most  fertile  localities  on  the  Missouri,  Illinois,  and  Mississippi  rivers,  of 
which  the  great  "Metropolis  of  the  West"  had  become  the  market. 
Hence,  directly  it  became  apparent  that  the  obstructions  of  the  harbor 
presented  truly  a  serious  aspect,  pecuniary  relief  was  at  once  offered.  In 
1845,  there  were  two  thousand  and  fifty  steamboats  in  the  harbor  of  St. 
Louis,  with  an  aggregate  tonnage  of  three  hundred  and  fifty-eight  thou- 
sand and  forty-five  tons ;  and  the  number  of  keel  and  flatboats  was  three 
hundred  and  forty-six. 

This  year  Peter  G.  Camden  was  elected  mayor,  succeeding  Bernard 
Pratte,  who  had  proved  a  most  efficient  municipal  executive. 

The  news  which  reached  St.  Louis  of  war  actually  existing  between  the 
United  States  and  Mexico  created  the  wildest  excitement,  mingled  at  one 
time  with  the  greatest  solicitude,  when  it  was  rumored  that  General  Tay- 
lor, with  his  handful  of  troops,  was  surrounded  by  an  overpowering  force 
of  the  enemy.  Immediately  the  martial  and  patriotic  spirit  of  the  inhab- 
itants evinced  itself,  and  companies  were  organized  almost  at  a  moment's 
warning. 

The  St.  Louis  Legion,  which  had  long  been  one  of  the  most  popular 
military  organizations  in  the  city,  began  immediately  to  prepare  for  the 
regions  west  of  the  Rio  Grande.  They  had  their  camp  at  a  little  distance 
from  the  city,  and  military  tactics  and  discipline  were  at  once  commenced 
Some  of  the  volunteers  not  being  properly  prepared  for  the  campaign, 
Judge  Bryan  Mullanphy  made  an  effort  to  get  five  thousand  dollars  from 
the  State  Bank  of  Missouri,  on  his  individual  note  for  four  months, 
pledging  valuable  stocks  as  security;  but  the  length  of  time,  and  the 
manner  of  his  offered  negotiation  with  the  bank,  proved  an  objection,  and 
his  patriotic  efforts  were  fruitless.  However,  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis 
determined  that  the  volunteers  in  the  service  of  their  country  should  not 
leave  for  a  foreign  land  without  their  proper  supplies,  and  at  a  meeting 
to  take  into  consideration  the  subject,  a  subscription  was  started,  and 
nearly  six  thousand  dollars  were  subscribed  on  the  spot.  Colonel  J.  B. 
Brant  started  the  subscription  with  one  thousand  dollars.  The  following- 
named  gentlemen  contributed  also  most  liberally :  J.  &  E.  Walsh,  J.  H. 
Lucas,  B.  Mullanphy,  Robert  Campbell,  E.  A.  Filley,  J.  B.  Sarpy,  Alfred 
Vinton,  William  Milburn,  K.  Mackenzie,  James  Glasgow,  Benjamin  Stick- 
ney,  A.  Meier  &  Co.,  D.  D.  Mitchell,  F.  Kennett,  Woods,  Christy  &  Co., 
Loker,  Renick  &  Co.,  Abbott  &  Peake,  and  I.Walker.  By  this  opportune 
advance  of  money,  the  volunteers  were  provided  with  clothing  suitable 


392  THE    GREAT   WEST 


to  the  warm  climate  of  the  Mexican  country.  Each  man  was  supplied 
with  a  blanket,  which  was  essentially  necessary  as  a  campaign  article  of 
service. 

Our  difficulty  with  Mexico  dates  back  less  than  a  score  of  years,  and 
though  Time  has  been  busy  garnering  his  harvest  in  the  field  of  human 
life,  yet  it  is  in  the  recollection  of  both  the  young  and  old,  how  great 
was  the  martial  excitement  over  the  land  at  the  time,  and  how  many 
thousands  of  patriotic  youths  claimed  the  precedence  of  rushing  to  the 
battle-field,  and  in  a  foreign  land.  The  fire  of  patriotism  is  of  so  pure  and 
vestal  a  nature  that  it  can  kindle  even  in  the  sensitive  heart  of  woman, 
and  many  a  soft  musical  voice  cheered  the  enthusiastic  soldier,  and  caused 
the  blood  to  gush  warmer  through  the  veins  of  the  soldiers  in  their 
longing  desire  to  prove  in  bloody  strife  their  devotion  to  their  country. 

In  St.  Louis,  the  Legion  was  presented  with  a  banner  by  Mrs.  J.  M. 
White  and  her  daughter,  Mrs.  F.  Kennett.  The  flag  bore  on  one  side  the 
armorial  bearings  of  the  state  of  Missouri,  and  on  the  other  side  was  the 
bird  of  our  Union  and  of  Jove,  with  the  motto,  "  Success  to  the  brave — 
may  your  trust  be  in  God."  Colonel  Easton,  the  commanding  officer  of 
the  Legion,  received  the  flag,  and  when  he  had  returned  thanks  in  an  ap- 
propriate and  expressive  manner,  three  hearty  cheers  to  the  fair  donors, 
that  made  the  welkin  ring,  burst  from  the  lungs  of  the  patriotic  soldiers. 
Colonel  Davenport,  of  the  United  States  army,  who  was  the  presiding 
officer  at  Jefferson  Barracks,  also  made  a  stirring  address,  which  was  re- 
ceived with  exulting  shouts.  In  a  few  days  afterward,  the  St.  Louis 
Legion  took  their  departure  for  New  Orleans,  in  a  boat  provided  for  that 
purpose,  and  hundreds  of  the  population  of  St.  Louis  and  the  surround- 
ing country  stood  on  the  bank  of  the  "Father  of  Waters,"  watching  the 
boat  until  it  was  no  longer  visible,  freighted  with  young  and  gallant 
spirits.* 

The  officers  composing  the  regiment  were  as  follows :  A.  R.  Easton, 
colonel ;  F.  Kennett,  lieutenant-colonel ;  G.  Shoenthaller,  major ;  H.  Alm- 
stedt,  adjutant ;  George  Johnson,  surgeon ;  R.  H.  Stevens,  assistant-surgeon ; 
and  George  Knapp,  lieutenant  and  acting-commander  of  sub. 

St.  Louis  Grays — S.  0.  Coleman,  captain ;  George  W.  West,  first  lieu- 
tenant ;  George  Knapp,  second  lieutenant ;  Charles  E.  Allen,  first  sergeant ; 
J.  B.  Shepherd,  second  sergeant ;  Edward  Colston,  third  sergeant ;  S.  F. 
Spalding,  fourth  sergeant ;  James  Parker,  first  corporal ;  Samuel  Roland, 

second  corporal ;  A.  T.  Trysdale,  third  corporal ; Kingsley,  fourth 

corporal. 

Native  American  Ranyers — Philander  Salisbury,  captain;  WTilIiam  A. 
Barnes,  first  lieutenant;  Henry  L.  Ross,  second  lieutenant;  James  Spore, 
first  sergeant;  David  Bayles,  second  sergeant;  John  P.  Shannon,  third 
sergeant;  Charles  L.  Smith,  fourth  sergeant;  A.  B.  Vanerson,  first  cor- 
poral ;  J.  F.  Brooks,  second  corporal  ;  John  W.  Yates,  third  corporal ;  J. 
B.  Chesley,  fourth  corporal. 

Boone  Guards — John  Knapp,  captain  ;  Thomas  H.  McVicker,  first 
lieutenant;  James  Brown,  second  lieutenant ;  C.  H.  Merritt,  first  sergeant ; 
D.  S.  Perry,  second  sergeant ;  G.  W.  Paul,  third  sergeant ;  Thomas  D. 

*  Colonel  Easton,  after  returning  to  St.  Louis  with  the  Legion,  went  across  the 
plains  to  Mexico,  and  remained  in  active  service  during  the  whole  campaign. 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  393 

Vandewenter,  fourth  sergeant ;  P.  H.  Erambert,  first  corporal ;  Benjamin 
Boone,  second  corporal ;  William  A.  Patterson,  third  corporal  ;  Thaddeus 
Boone,  fourth  corporal.* 

Montgomery  Guards — John  Watson,  jr.,  captain  ;  Patrick  Deegan,  first 
lieutenant;  Thomas  Mara,  second  lieutenant;  William  Grumley,  first  ser- 
geant ;  Thomas  Nugent,  second  sergeant ;  Martin  Dryer,  third  sergeant ; 
Patrick  Lawler,  fourth  sergeant;  C.  A.  Rose,  first  corporal;  G.  O'Brien, 
second  corporal ;  William  Flynn,  third  corporal ;  N.  N.  Watson,  fourth 
corporal. 

Morgan  Riflemen — Henry  J.  B.  McKellops%  captain;  James  T.  Moore, 
first  lieutenant;  George  N.  Miller,  second  lieutenant;  A.  L.  Whitley, 
first  sergeant;  Tilden  Reed,  second  sergeant;  William  Coody,  third  ser- 
geant ;  Joseph  Langley,  fourth  sergeant ;  Hiram  Ogden,  first  corporal ; 
Charles  Hammond,  second  corporal ;  Victor  L.  Benton,  third  corporal ; 
Joseph  Lawrence,  fourth  corporal. 

Colonel  Thornton  Grimsby,  with  Mr.  Charles  Bent,  an  enterprising 
Indian  trader,  in  a  few  days  raised  a  mounted  company  of  nearly  a  thou- 
sand efficient  soldiers,  but  the  governor  of  Missouri  appointed  another 
officer  to  command  them.  There  was  also  the  Laclede  Rangers,  under  the 
command  of  Captain  Thomas  B.  Hudson, a  horse-artillery  company,  under 
the  command  of  Captain  Weightrnan,  a  company  of  mounted  dragoons, 
under  Captain  Fischer,  and  an  artillery  company,  commanded  by  Captain 
Renick.  These  mounted  companies  were  to  join  Colonel  Kearney  at 
Fort  Leavenworth  and  proceed  across  the  plains  to  New  Mexico.  R.  L. 
Clarke  was  elected  major  of  an  artillery  battalion  formed  out  of  a  portion 
of  the  companies  we  have  named,  and  Colonel  Robert  Campbell  was  in- 
spector-general of  the  mounted  companies  as  they  were  forming.  Colonel 
Bogg  of  the  sixty-fourth  regiment  was  very  efficient  in  promoting  the  or- 
ganization of  the  volunteer  companies,  and  adding  to  their  ardor  by 
patriotic  addresses.  The  pen,  if  moved  alone  by  the  volition  of  the 
author,  would  like  to  linger  longer  over  this  time,  hallowed  by  patriotic 
feeling,  and  would  wish  to  swell  the  narration,  by  recording  the  names  of 
other  officers,  who  were  ready  to  offer  their  services  and  their  lives,  if  re- 
quired, for  their  country's  good ;  but  other  topics  connected  with  the 
history  demand  their  share  of  attention. 

October  26th  witnessed  the  ceremony  of  the  dedication  of  Odd  Fellows' 
Hall.  The  building  had  been  more  than  a  year  in  the  course  of  erection, 
the  corner-stone  having  been  laid  April  26th,  1845,  and  the  edifice  being 
so  splendid,  and  the  occasion  so  replete  with  interest,  the  consecration 
was  witnessed  by  a  large  assembly  of  the  people,  and  there  was  a  uni- 
versal attendance  of  the  order.  On  one  of  the  tablets  is  inscribed,  "In- 
stituted June  13th,  1838 — Incorporated  Feb.  22d,  1843."  On  the  eastern 
wall,  engraved  in  gold,  are  the  words,  so  rich  in  moral  precept  and  so 

*  There  was  a  youth  attached  to  this  company  by  the  name  James  "W.  Robinson, 
who,  on  his  return  from  Mexico,  having  evinced  so  strong  a  predilection  for  military  life, 
joined  with  a  high  sense  of  honor,  that  interest  was  created  in  his  behalf,  and,  through  the 
Hon.  James  S.  Green,  he  was  admitted  to  the  academy  at  West  Point,  and  went  through 
the  rigid  course  of  education  required  at  that  institution.  He  is  now  one  of  the  lieu- 
tenants of  the  1st  regiment  of  artillery,  and  one  of  its  most  efficient  officers. 

In  the  same  corps,  the  first  sergeant,  C.  H.  Merritt,  was  appointed  by  General  Tay- 
lor, marshal  of  New  Mexico,  on  its  organization. 


394:  THE    GREAT   WEST 


typical  of  the  institution  of  the  order,  "  We  command  you  to  visit  the 
sick,  relieve  the  distressed ;"  and  immediately  opposite,  on  the  western 
wall,  are  the  words,  likewise  dressed  in  gold,  "  Bury  the  dead,  and  edu- 
cate the  orphan.'' 

The  ladies  of  the  Centenary  Church  presented  the  order,  through  the 
Rev.  John  Hogan,  with  a  magnificent  banner,  bordered  with  the  mystical 
symbols  of  the  order,  the  centre  occupied  by  a  female  form,  representing 
Charity,  and  above,  looking  down  upon  all,  was  the  All-seeing  Eye.  The 
banner  was  received,  in  behalf  of  the  order,  by  Dr.  John  S.  Moore,  with 
elegant  and  appropriate  remarks.  In  conclusion  of  the  ceremonies  o-n 
the  interesting  occasion,  an  oration  was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Charles  B. 
Parsons,  showing  the  principles  of  morality  and  religion  in  which  the 
institution  of  Odd  Fellows  was  radicated,  and  from  which  it  sprung.  The 
address  was  delivered  in  an  impressive  manner,  and  was  replete  with 
classical  and  rhetorical  beauties. 

The  pork  trade  in  St.  Louis,  at  this  time,  occupied  considerable  atten- 
tion, employed  much  capital,  and  formed  a  large  stern  of  the  trade  of  the 
city.  The  most  extensive  establishments  in  the  city  were  those  owned  by 
Messrs.  Sigerson,  Wacldington,  Swearingen,  Conn,  Araelung,  Ames,  Ris- 
ley,  Barber  &  Taylor,  Butler  &  McCorkell,  and  Bachelder  &  Runyan. 
Some  of  these  mammoth  establishments  could  slaughter  a  thousand  of  hogs 
daily.  Mr.  Risler  was  the  first  pork  packer  in  Missouri. 


AUT>   HER   COMMEKCIAL   METROPOLIS.  •  395 


CHAPTER-    VIII. 

Incorporation  of  Boatmen's  Saving  Institution. — Celebration  of  the  Anniversary  of  the 
Founding  of  St.  Louis. — The  great  procession. — Pierre  Chouteau. — The  address 
delivered  by  Wilson  Primm,  Esq. — The  dinner  at  the  Planters'  House. — The  great 
illumination  of  the  city  in  honor  of  General  Taylor's  victories. — An  eagle  loosed 
from  its  cage. — Great  famine  in  Scotland  and  Ireland. — Meeting  of  the  inhabitants 
of  St.  Louis  to  afford  relief  to  those  countries. — The  magnetic  telegraph. — Interest 
in  railroads. —  Ohio  and  Mississippi  railroad. — Complimentary  dinner  to  General 
Shields. — General  Taylor  a  favorite  with  the  people  of  St.  Louis. — They  determined 
to  run  him  for  the  Presidency. — News  of  the  outbreak  in  Paris. — Meeting  of  the 
citizens. — Louis  Napoleon. — Lamartine. — Death  of  Edward  Charless. — General  Kear- 
ney.— Cholera  appears. — Purchase  of  Belle  Fontaine  Cemetery. — Great  fire — Twenty- 
three  steamboats  consumed. — Whole  blocks  of  houses  destroyed. — Three  millions 
of  property  consumed. — Death  of  T.  B.  Targee. — Building  again  commenced. — 
Main  street  widened. — Reappearance  of  the  cholera. — Its  mortality. — Disagreement 
of  the  doctors. — City  Council  forbid  the  sale  of  vegetables. — Revoke  the  act. — 
Fatality  of  the  disease  among  the  emigrants. — Quarantine  established. — The  effect 
of  the  fire  and  cholera  upon  St.  Louis. — The  resumption  of  business  on  a  more  ex- 
tensive scale. — Prosperous  indications. — National  Pacific  Railroad  convention. — St. 
Louis  Medical  College  built. — Tragedy  at  the  City  Hotel. — Two  French  noblemen 
arrested. — Their  trial  and  acquittal. 

1847. — In  the  early  part  of  this  year  an  act  was  passed  for  the  incor- 
poration of  the  Boatmen's  Saving  Institution,  which  has  become  so 
popular  with  all  classes  of  citizens,  and  which  has  by  the  proper  use  of 
its  capital  given  increased  vitality  to  the  business  of  the  city,  and  swelled 
and  extended  its  limits.  The  gentlemen  mentioned  in  the  act  as  the 
corporators,  and  to  whom  principally  belongs  the  credit  of  the  new  enter- 
prise, were  George  W.  Sparhauk,  Sullivan  Blood,  Edward  Dobbins,  Luther 
M.  Kennett,  Daniel  D.  Page,  B.  W.  Alexander,  Adam  S.  Mills,  Amade 
Valle,  George  K.  Budd,  Thomas  Andrews,  Henry  D.  Bacon,  Laurason 
Biggs,  Samuel  C.  Davis,  James  G.  Barry  and  John  M.  Wimer. 

It  was  in  this  year  that  there  was  a  celebration  of  the  "  anniversary  of 
the  founding  of  St.  Louis,"  and  there  was  universal  enthusiasm  felt  by 
the  community  on  the  occasion,  and  extensive  preparations  were  made 
for  the  event,  which  took  place  on  February  15th.  The  military  and  fire 
companies  turned  out  on  this  interesting  occasion,  schools,  societies,  and 
orders  swelled  the  procession — all  having  waving  banners,  significant  of 
the  sphere  in  which  they  moved,  and  appropriate  for  the  occasion. 
Drawn  in  an  open  carriage,  was  Pierre  Chouteau,  the  companion  of 
Pierre  Laclede  Liguest,  the  founder  of  St.  Louis.  He  was  accompanied 
by  his  three  sons,  one  of  whom  was  named  Pierre  Liguest.  On  the  car- 
riage the  eyes  of  the  immense  multitude  were  bent  with  eagerness.  That 
old  man,  with  hoary  locks,  then  upwards  of  ninety  years,  was  the  last 
relic  of  those  hardy  pioneers  who  knew  St.  Louis  the  first  year  of  its 
existence,  and  he  was  the  pioneer  trader,  of  the  savages  inhabiting  the 
wild  solitudes  of  the  Missouri. 

In  miniature  was   carried  in  the   procession,  the  model  of  the  first 
18 


THE   GREAT   WEST 


steamboat,  the  General  Pike,  that  touched  the  levee  in  July,  1817.  Even 
the  model,  true  to  its  original,  had  a  qnaint  and  awkward  appearance; 
and  to  show  the  march  of  improvement,  and  to  give  to  it  still  more  the 
impress  of  antiquity,  another  model  of  a  modern  steamer  with  all  of  its 
graceful  and  palatial  finish,  was  carried  in  its  wake.  The  General  Pike 
was  a  creation  of  the  past — was  uncomely  and  clumsy  in  its  structure, 
but  when  it  first  touched  the  wharf  it  looked  to  the  voyageurs,  the  Indians, 
and  the  raftsmen,  the  complete  embodiment,  and  finest  of  all  that  creative 
genius  could  accomplish.  They  had  been  accustomed  to  look  upon  the 
Mackinaw  boat,  the  raft,  and  the  keel-boat,  and  the  General  Pike,  to 
them,  was  like  a  fairy  creation. 

It  was  a  beautiful  sight  to  witness  the  innocent  transport  of  the  youth, 
formed  in  separate  companies  and  coming  from  the  public  and  private 
schools  of  the  city.  Most  of  them  had  their  banners  and  their  badges, 
and  their  presence  gave  an  April  freshness  to  the  occasion.  Conspicuous 
among  the  number  were  the  pupils  of  Mr.  Wyman's  high-school. 

The  part  of  the  procession  made  up  of  the  Freemasons  and  the  Inde- 
pendent order  of  Odd  Fellows,  was  most  imposing.  They  had  on  this 
occasion  on  parade,  all  of  the  devices  and  emblems  peculiar  to  their 
orders,  and  on  their  banners  were  mottoes  of  Christian  precept,  and  signif- 
icant of  the  goodness  and  usefulness  of  these  worthy  institutions.  The 
printers,  firemen,  coopers,  trunk,  saddle  and  harness  makers,  were  all 
there,  with  appropriate  devices  indicating  their  presence  in  the  proces- 
sion. 

Conspicuous  in  the  line  of  march  were  immense  casks,  indicating  the 
advent  and  the  reign  of  that  extensive  and  blessed  institution — lager- 
bier.  One  cask  was  from  the  brewery  of  Adam  Lemp,  another  from  the 
brewery  of  McHose  and  English,  another  from  the  brewery  of  G.  Snyder, 
and  one  from  the  Union  Brewery,  owned  by  Julius  Winkelmair.  The 
most  rotund,  jolly,  rubicund  and  roystering  set  of  Germans  were  chosen 
to  accompany  the  beer  casks. 

Some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  length  of  the  procession,  when  it 
reached  from  Spruce  to  Pine  street.  After  perambulating  through  the 
great  thoroughfares  of  the  city,  it  at  length  halted  in  the  locality  of  the 
court-house,  from  the  steps  of  which  the  address  was  to  be  delivered  by 
Honorable  Wilson  Primm,  a  member  of  the  St.  Louis  bar,  who  was  born 
in  St.  Louis,  and  whose  ancestors  were  at  the  founding  of  the  city,  in 
1764.  This  address  was  published  in  a  pamphlet  form,  and  is  a  lucid 
and  succinct  relation  of  the  early  settlement  of  the  town.  Its  style  is 
chaste,  profuse  in  rhetorical  beauty,  and  classical ;  and  was  delivered  with 
that  burning  and  fervid  eloquence  for  which  its  author  is  so  remarkable. 
After  the  address,  the  officers  of  the  procession  and  a  number  of  citizens 
and  distinguished  strangers  proceeded  to  the  Planters'  House,  to  partake 
of  the  sumptuous  dinner  prepared  for  the  occasion.  The  Honorable  John 
F.  Darby  presided,  and  the  following  gentlemen  were  the  appointed  vice- 
presidents,  II.  Von  Phul,  F.  R.  Conway,  Dr.  B.  G.  Farrar,  Edward  Bates, 
Asa  "Wilgns,  Dr.  Robert  Simpson,  Colonel  John  O'Fallon,  W.  King  and 
Colonel  J.  B.  Brant.  On  the  right  of  the  president  was  seated  the  vener- 
able Pierre  Chouteau.  The  dinner  was  truly  a  convivial  one;  there  were 
hunger  and  thirst  sufficient  to  do  justice  to  the  choice  wine  and  viands 
supplied  in  prodigal  profusion ;  and  the  intellect  kindled  and  the  spirits 


AND    HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  397 

warmed  and  danced,  under  the  happy  influence  of  the  festive  scene. 
Complimentary  toasts  were  drunk  and  responded  to,  and  if  some  mind  too 
aspiring  for  its  capacity,  would  fail  in  its  rhetorical  flights,  or  would 
play  sad  havoc  with  tacts  and  dates  of  history,  the  effusion  was  hailed  as 
the  essence  of  historical  knowledge,  and  poetical  beauty.  The  time  was 
dedicated  to  the  festal  hour,  and  nothing  was  suffered  to  mar  its  in- 
fluence. 

If  space  permitted,  we  would  like  to  give  some  of  the  fine  toasts, 
radiations  of  cultivated  intellects  glowing  with  the  fires  of  true  inspira- 
tion, but  it  cannot  be — we  must  hasten  to  other  events  which  in  the  prog- 
ress of  time  have  been  teeming  into  birth,  and  require  a  record  to  preserve 
them  as  memorials. 

Festive  occasions  are  called  into  existence  by  the  genial  sunshine  of 
prosperity,  and  the  celebration  of  "The  Anniversary  of  the  Founding  of 
St.  Louis,"  was  followed  by  a  general  illumination  of  the  city.  As  yet, 
gas  had  not  been  introduced,  but  at  a  meeting  of  the  citizens,  it  was 
determined  that  the  Mexican  victories  should  be  celebrated  by  a  general 
illumination.  Nearly  all  of  the  grounds  in  the  vicinity  of  Lucas  market 
were  then  vacant,  and  cannons  were  planted  on  them,  and  also  fire  rockets ; 
and  the  sending  up  of  these  last,  was  a  signal  for  the  illumination,  which, 
commencing  simultaneously  in  every  part  of  the  city,  was  attended  with 
the  most  striking  and  brilliant  effect.  In  a  moment,  St.  Louis,  as  it  were, 
was  bathed  in  a  flood  of  light.  Many  of  the  boats  on  the  levee  were 
beautifully  lit  up  on  the  occasion,  and  bonfires  streamed  forth  from  every 
part  of  the  city.  One  of  the  markets  was  lit  up  in  a  very  brilliant  man- 
ner by  the  command  of  the  stockholders,  and  during  the  day,  from  the 
office  of  the  Reveille,  a  caged  eagle  was  loosed,  bearing  on  one  of  its  legs, 
a  brass  plate,  with  the  impress  "  Buena  Vista."  The  noble  bird,  though 
he  had  been  some  time  a  prisoner,  soared  easily  and  gracefully  from  the 
earth,  toward  the  setting  sun,  watched  by  thousands  of  citizens,  as  he 
cleaved  his  way  through  the  regions  of  space,  to  soar  through  which, 
strong  pinions  had  been  given  by  the  beneficent  God  of  Nature. 

While  the  people  of  St.  Louis  were  enjoying  the  festive  hour,  and  cele- 
brating, with  illumination,  the  triumph  of  American  arms,  from  across  the 
Atlantic  were  heard  the  doleful  sounds  qf  distress  proceeding  from  starv- 
ing thousands.  Ireland  and  Scotland,  from  an  almost  total  failure  of  crops, 
were  visited  by  the  ghastly  terrors  of  famine.  From  hunger,  hundreds 
died,  and  unless  instant  relief  were  sent,  thousands  more  would  meet  the 
same  torturing  doom.  By  the  suffering  in  those  countries,  an  appeal  was 
made  to  their  countrymen  in  the  United  States — nor  was  it  made  in  vain. 
From  every  city  of  note  in  the  Union,  contributions  in  money,  food,  and 
apparel  were  forwarded  to  the  suffering  countries.  In  St.  Louis,  the 
friends  of  Ireland  called  a  meeting,  at  which  Colonel  John  O'Fallon  pre- 
sided, and  Christopher  Garvey  was  appointed  secretary.  The  meeting  was 
for  the  relief  of  the  sufferers  of  Ireland ;  and  to  carry  out  its  object,  the 
following-named  gentlemen  were  chosen  as  committee : — Col.  J.  O'Fal- 
lon, Colonel  Joshua  B.  Brant,  George  Collier,  Judge  Bryan  Mullanphy, 
Captain  John  Simonds,  Edward  Walsh,  John  Finney,  Colonel  Robert 
Campbell,  Eugene  Kelley,  Wm.  Lindsay,  Colonel  T.  Grimsley,  H.  Von 
Phul,  K.  M.  Rennick,  A.  Elliott,  George  Buchanan,  George  K.  McGunnegle, 
A.  Vinton,  J.  E.  Yeatman,  A.  Piggott,  P.  Slevin,  and  Captain  Wm.  Howe. 


398  THE   GREAT   WEST 


There  were   many  other  citizen  of  St.  Louis,  who  took  an  active  part  in 
forwarding  the  philanthropic  undertaking. 

There  were  various  meetings  held  also  of  citizen  Scotchmen,  and 
those  of  Scotch  descent,  to  relieve  the  destitution  of  that  country,  so  en- 
deared to  patriotic  hearts,  by  the  memories  of  Bruce  and  Wallace. 
Taking  the  lead  for  the  relief  of  Scotland,  was  Kenneth  Mackenzie,  ably 
seconded  by  Colonel  A.  D.  Stuart,  H.  Ogden,  T.  M.  Taylor,  T.  S.  Ruther- 
furd,  Thomas  Webster,  John  S.  Thompson,  W.  B.  Barber,  James  Moffat, 
Thomas  Primrose,  N.  E.  Janney,  Wm.  Strachan,  Judge  Ferguson,  and  D. 
A.  Marshall.  The  citizens  of  St.  Louis  contributed  most  liberally  to  those 
worthy  appeals  to  their  benevolence,  and  we  regret  that  we  cannot  afford 
more  space  to  the  recording  of  the  names  of  others  who  nobly  came 
forward  on  that  occasion,  and  responded  liberally  to  the  appeal  made  upon 
their  bounty. 

On  December  20th,  of  this  year,  the  great  wonder  of  the  day — the 
culminating  glory  of  the  human  intellect — the  magnetic  telegraph  com- 
menced operations  on  the  Illinois  side  opposite  St.  Louis,  and  transmitted 
messages  on  the  "  lightning  wing"  to  the  principal  cities  of  the  east.  For 
a  little  while,  this  grand  creation,  more  grand  than  any  former  conception 
of  the  human  intellect,  and  evincing  the  spirituality  of  the  intellect,  and 
the  intimate  connection  with  the  Deity  from  its  power,  was  the  theme  of 
universal  conversation  and  general  interest,  and  then,  losing  the  polished 
attraction  of  novelty,  other  events  more  newly  born  became  for  a  season 
the  pets  of  popular  favor. 

Every  city,  at  this  time,  wished  to  become  a  link  in  the  great  chain  of 
railroads,  which  were  fast  extending  themselves  through  the  different  sec- 
tions of  the  Union,  and  placed  distant  cities  in  close  proximity.  Some  years 
before,  there  had  been  an  Internal  Improvement  Convention  held  in  St. 
Louis,  which  we  have  already  noticed,  but  after  a  meteoric  display  of 
enthusiasm,  the  subject  died  away,  and  there  was  no  indication  left  of  its 
existence.  The  railways  were  then  very  distant,  but  now  the  whistle  of 
the  engine  was  approaching  from  the  east,  and  Cincinnati  could  boast  of 
a  railroad  connection  with  all  of  the  principal  eastern  cities.  It  was  a 
darling  project  too  of  her  enterprising  business  men,  to  have  a  railway 
connection  with  the  Mississippi  Driver,  at  St.  Louis.  What  would  be  the 
best  route  through  Indianapolis  or  Vincennes?  Each  of  these  routes 
had  its  friends,  and  could  advance,  respectively,  arguments  in  favor  of 
each  locality  for  the  proposed  road.  The  citizens  of  Vincennes  became 
very  active  in  having  the  projected  road  to  pass  through  their  city,  and 
meetings  were  held,  and  the  capitalists  of  the  place  were  ready  to  sub- 
scribe liberally  to  the  stock,  if  the  "  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad"  would 
pass  the  Wabash  at  that  location.  That  route  was  at  length  determined 
upon,  after  a  communication  with  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis. 

The  citizens  of  Vincennes  are  entitled  to  much  credit  for  their  enter- 
prising exertions  in  getting  the  route  fixed  upon  through  their  city. 
Judges  John  Law  and  Abner  T.  Ellis  were  untiring  in  their  efforts  on 
that  occasion,  and  visited  St.  Louis  several  times  to  confer  with  our 
prominent  citizens.  They  were  likewise  efficiently  assisted,  by  Messrs. 
Samuel  Judah,  David  S.  Bonner,  Wm.  Birtch,  John  Wise,  Cyrus  M. 
Allen,  John  Ross,  Wm.  B.  McCord,  and  Benjamin  S.  Thomas.  Many  of 
the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  took  an  active  part  in  creating  this  great  high- 


AND   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  399 

way  of  travel,  running  through  the  heart  of  the  great  American  bottom 
— the  Goshen  of  the  Union. 

On  December  28th,  there  was  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis, 
called  to  take  into  consideration  the  propriety  of  taking  measures  to 
authorize  the  city  of  St.  Louis  to  subscribe  five  hundred  thousand  dollars 
toward  the  construction  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad ;  George 
Collier  presided  at  the  meeting,  and  John  F.  Darby  was  appointed  secre- 
tary. The  following  resolution  was  then  offered  by  T.  13.  Hudson,  and 
adopted : 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  seven  be  appointed  by  the  chairman  of 
this  meeting,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  petition  the  legislature  for  the 
passage  of  a  law  authorizing  the  city  of  St.  Louis  to  subscribe  for  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars  of  stock  in  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad, 
and  that  said  committee  be  instructed  to  use  all  proper  exertions  to  secure 
the  passage  of  such  law. 

Agreeably  to  this  resolution,  the  following-named  gentlemen  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  chair  as  such  committee :  T.  B.  Hudson,  A.  Gamble,  L. 
M.  Kennett,  J.  F.  Darby,  A.  Kayser,  James  E.  Yeatman,  and  George 
Collier. 

The  efforts  of  the  committee  were  successful  in  procuring  the  passage 
of  an  ordinance,  granting  St.  Louis  the  privilege  of  the  contemplated  sub- 
scription, provided  it  should  meet  with  the  approbation  of  the  people. 
The  people  did  vote  for  the  measure,  and  accordingly  the  stock  was  sub- 
scribed to. 

We  here  remark  that  Prof.  Mitchel,  he  whose  fame  is  associated  with 
the  stars,  by  his  devotion  to  astronomy,  and  his  success  in  bringing  with- 
in the  scope  of  human  vision,  more  of  the  sublime  mysteries  of  that 
ennobling  science,  was  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  bring  about  the  railroad 
connection  between  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis;  and  to  the  influence  of  the 
addresses  which  he  delivered  in  these  cities,  and  the  cities  on  the  con- 
templated line,  is,  in  a  great  measure,  to  be  attributed,  at  so  early  a 
period,  this  direct  connection  between  this  great  metropolis  of  the  west- 
ern country. 

Let  it  suffice  for  the  present,  that  the  citizens  of  Vincennes,  whom  we 
have  mentioned,  took  a  most  prominent  part  in  the  incipiency  of  this 
great  measure,  and  procured  a  charter  from  the  Indiana  legislature.  We 
will  again  recur  to  this  subject. 

1848. — The  character  of  the  inhabitants  of  a  city  is  reflected  by  their 
actions,  and  whoever  attentively  peruses  the  history  of  St.  Louis,  will 
find  how  sensibly  alive  the  citizens  are  on  all  occasions  to  the  claims  of 
merit,  and  anxious  to  reward  and  cherish  it  by  some  public  demonstra- 
tion. This  year  there  were  meetings  held,  and  resolutions  complimentary 
were  passed  to  the  volunteer  companies  who  returned  from  Mexico. 
Many  of  the  officers  of  the  United  States  army,  on  their  return  from 
Mexico,  stopped  en  route,  to  Washington,  at  St.  Louis,  and  must  have 
been  gratified  with  their  reception.  A  complimentary  dinner  was  offered 
to  General  Shields  and  accepted ;  and  to  Colonel  Kearney  and  Colonel 
Doniphan,  the  same  honor  was  tendered,  which,  from  the  pressure  of 
their  business,  they  were  compelled  to  decline. 

As  has  been  before  observed,  St.  Louis  had  always  manifested  strong 
political  proclivities,  and  the  "  Rough  and  Ready"  fever  which  raged  at 


400  THE   GREAT   WEST 


one  time  throughout  the  whole  Union,  with  such  maddening  excitement, 
may  be  said  to  have  commenced  in  St.  Louis.  Ward  and  mass  meetings 
were  held,  and  long  before  the  hero  of  Palo  Alto,  Monterey,  Buena 
Vista,  and  other  battles,  ever  dreamed  of  aspiration  to  civic  honors,  it  had 
been  determined  on  in  St.  Louis,  the  next  in  that  measure  to  New  Or- 
leans, that  the  chief  magistracy  of  the  Union  should  reward  his  military 
exploits. 

The  martial  excitement  produced  by  the  victorious  news  from  Mexico 
was  increased  by  the  reports  which  announced  the  breaking  out  of  the 
revolution  in  Paris  and  Germany.  In  St.  Louis  there  was  a  large  meet- 
ing held  on  April  19th  ;  Judge  John  M.  Krum  was  chosen  president,  and 
Alexander  Kayser,  David  Chambers,  Judge  Bryan  Mullanphy,  and  John 
F.Darby,  vice-presidents.  The  following  gentlemen  werechosen  secretaries, 
C.  E.  Lebaume,  Lewis  Cortambert,  and  Alexander  J.  P.  Garesche.  This 
meeting  was  largely  attended,  but  it  was  only  preliminary  to  a  general 
mass  meeting  that  was  in  contemplation.  For  this  mass  meeting  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  prepare  an  address  and  suitable  resolutions.  The 
following-named  gentlemen  received  the  appointment:  R.  S.  Blanner- 
hassett,  James  Lemen,  Daniel  H.  Donovan,  John  F.  Darby,  Wilson 
Primm,  James  G.  Barry,  Colonel  L.  V.  Bogy,  Captain  Deegan,  D.  A. 
Magehan,  Lewis  Bach,  Robert  Cathcart,  J.  S.  Hall,  Reuben  B.  Austin, 
P.  G.  Camden,  Judge  Schaumburg,  Judge  Mullanphy,  and  William 
Weber.  The  address  prepared  by  the  committee,  and  which  was  read  at 
the  mass  meeting  by  Pierce  C.  Grace,  was  a  very  able  one,  and  the  people 
of  Paris,  who  had  hurled  the  monarch  from  the  throne  and  compelled 
him  to  flee,  were  lauded  with  the  most  enthusiastic  cheers.  Lamartine  was 
the  Spartan  hero,  who  thus  successfully  headed  the  popular  outbreak 
which  destroyed  the  Bourbon  dynasty,  and  his  name  became  familiar  to 
every  fireside.  He  forsook  his  studies  for  the  great  occasion  ;  arid  through 
his  exertions  there  was  a  promise,  for  a  brief  period,  that  France  would 
be  a  republic.  She  became  one,  but  not  to  remain  one.  A  revolution 
had  before  afforded  an  avenue  to  the  ambition  of  Napoleon ;  and  when 
again  kingly  power  became  extinct  by  revolutionary  movements,  a  Bona- 
parte again,  with  the  marvellous  power  of  genius  and  greatness,  took  the 
dynasty  of  the  great  nation  in  his  hands;  and  that,  too,  with  the  consent 
of  the  people  who  had,  a  few  months  before,  risen  in  mass  against  mon- 
archical arbitrament.  He  has  become  the  idol  of  the  people — not  forced 
upon  them  by  any  hereditary  prerogative,  but  their  chosen  one ;  and  it 
may  be  truly  said,  the  darling  object  of  his  great  mind  is,  to  heap  glory 
upon  France  and  make  her  "proudly  eminent"  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth.  Lamartine,  the  gentle  enthusiast,  the  scholar,  the  hero,  unskilled 
in  diplomatic  finesse,  and  whose  theory  of  government  had  been  woven 
in  the  closet,  and  was  of  too  gossamer  a  texture  for  strength  and  durability, 
went  into  exile  and  became  a  literary  devotee,  for  which  nature  had  de- 
signed him,  and  his  sentimental  creations,  so  dream-like,  so  spiritual  in 
their  nature,  have  gone  abroad  to  the  world,  and  have  given  him  a  fame 
far  more  wide  than  his  efforts  in  a  sterner  sphere. 

The  French  citizens  in  St.  Louis  were  enthusiastic  at  the  success  of  the 
outbreak  in  Paris,  and  the  dawn  of  a  republican  government.  They 
called  a  meeting,  at  which  Dr.  John  Rivereau  presided,  and  of  which 
Wilson  Primm  was  appointed  secretary.  The  Marseillaise  Hymn  was  sung, 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  401 

and  eloquent  addresses  were  delivered.  On  the  same  evening  there  was 
a  large  gathering  of  the  Germans,  produced  by  the  exciting  news  from  the 
fader  land,  and  the  revolutionary  indication  from  every  part,  produced  by 
republican  tendencies.  At  all  of  these 'meetings  resolutions  were  passed 
for  the  preparation  of  patriotic  addresses,  to  be  sent  to  France  and  Ger- 
many, expressive  of  sympathy  and  encouragement. 

On  June  22d  the  death  of  Edward  Charless  was  announced.  From 
the  fact  that  the  deceased  came  to  this  country  with  his  father,  Joseph 
Charless,  at  a  very  early  period,  when  it  was  Louisiana  Territory,  to- 
gether with  his  extensive  acquaintance  and  estimable  qualities,  his  death 
became  a  matter  of  public  concern.  He  died  in  the  fiftieth  year  of  his 
age  universally  regretted.  A  few  months  after  the  decease  of  Edward 
Charless,  the  country  was  called  upon  to  mourn  the  death  of  General 
Stephen  W.  Kearney,  who  died  of  chronic  diarrhoea,  a  disease  contracted 
while  he  was  in  Mexico,  and  which  proved  more  fatal  to  our  gallant 
officers  and  soldiers  than  the  arms  of  the  enemies.  General  Kearney  was 
a  native  of  New  Jersey,  and  when  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  his  age,  and 
when  a  student  of  Nassau  Hall,  Princeton,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war 
in  1812  with  Great  Britain,  he  obtained  a  commission  of  first-lieutenant. 
He  was  taken  prisoner  during  the  war,  and  after  being  exchanged,  served 
with  honor  during  the  campaign ;  and  when  the  army  was  reduced  to  a 
peace  establishment,  he  acquired  the  rank  of  captain.  Having  thus  early 
entered  upon  the  profession  of  arms,  he  cleaved  to  what  appeared  his  rul- 
ing passion,  and  remained  in  the  active  service  of  his  country  until  he 
was  cut  off  by  death,  in  the  fifty-fifth  year  of  his  age. 

Colonel  Kearney  was  early  identified  with  the  western  country.  He 
was  sent  to  protect  the  frontier  parts  of  the  western  country,  which  for 
many  years  were  visited  with  all  the  horrors  of  savage  warfare.  He  was 
engaged  in  the  campaign  in  the  south  against  the  Camanches,  and  for 
many  years  was  stationed  at  Fort  Leavenworth  on  the  Missouri,  and  by 
his  knowledge  of  the  Indian  character,  and  by  his  conciliatory  and  de- 
cided conduct,  he  kept  the  frontier  settlements  free  from  those  terrible 
atrocities  which  form  the  record  of  most  of  the  pioneer  settlements  of  our 
land,  lie  married  Miss  Radford,  step-daughter  of  Gov.  William  Clark, 
in  St.  Louis ;  and  during  the  Mexican  war,  with  the  rank  of  brigadier- 
general,  by  order  of  the  government  he  went  across  "the  plains"  to  take 
possession  of  Mexico  and  California.  History  has  recorded  his  success  in 
accomplishing  the  responsible  mission  confided  to  him.  The  city  of  St. 
Louis  was  his  home;  and  he  was  buried  with  military  honors.  The 
funeral  obsequies  were  in  keeping  with  the  official  position  and  wealth 
of  the  illustrious  deceased  ;  an  impressive  sermon  was  delivered  on  the 
occasion  by  the  Rev.  Bishop  Hawks,  and  the  procession  extended  a  mile 
in  length  on  its  passage  to  the  cemetery.  Then,  when  the  body  was  de- 
posited in  the  vault,  the  artillery  boomed,  and  three  rounds  were  fired  by 
the  infantry  ;  then  the  procession  started  for  the  city,  and  the  remains 
of  the  lamented  Kearney  were  left  in  the  cemetery. 

About  the  closing  of  the  year,  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  became  much 
alarmed  by  the  existence  of  Asiatic  cholera  in  New  Orleans,  and  now  and 
then  a  death  occurred  near  the  city  with  all  the  symptoms  of  that  dreaded 
pestilence.  For  more  than  a  year  previous  the  dreaded  malady  had  ap- 
peared in  Europe,  then  in  Canada,  and  its  course  through  the  United 


402  THE    GREAT   WEST 


States  had  been  predicted  by  many  eminent  physicians.  The  warnings 
had  been  heralded  abroad  by  the  journals  throughout  the  Union,  and  in 
St.  Louis  they  had  again  and  again  suggested  the  necessity  of  anticipating 
the  pestilence,  by  commencing  the  most  effective  sanitary  precautions. 
The  weakness  of  humanity  is  generally  to  procrastinate ;  and  what  could 
have  been  done  in  1  848  in  the  way  of  sanitary  precautions,  was  postponed, 
which,  though  it  might  not  have  precluded  the  appearance  of  the  direful 
disease,  would  have  disarmed  it  of  half  of  its  deadly  power.  It  was  not 
until  now  and  then  a  scattering  case  showed  clearly  that  the  disease  was 
within  the  portals,  that  any  efficient  efforts  were  taken  to  remove  the  filth 
everywhere  abounding,  and  to  commence  the  process  of  purification. 
However,  after  a  few  days,  the  alarm  subsided,  for,  no  fresh  cases  oc- 
curring, and  the  news  that  the  malady  was  on  the  decline  in  New  Orleans, 
the  inhabitants  thought  no  more  of  the  dread  enemy,  which  they  sup- 
posed had  finally  departed,  and  the  city  authorities  bent  their  efforts  to 
accomplish  things  occupying  more  of  public  interest  than  cleaning  the 
streets. 

1849. — It  was  in  April  that  the  trustees  purchased  what  is  now  known 
as  the  Belle  Fontaine  Cemetery.  The  act  of  corporation  styled  the  cem- 
etery the  "  Rural  Cemetery,"  but  it  being  on  the  Belle  Fontaine  road,  it 
was  very  properly  changed  to  the  name  it  now  bears.  It  was  bought  of 
Luther  M.  Kennett,  and  was  known  as  the  "  Hempstead  Farm."  The 
names  of  the  trustees  mentioned  in  the  act  are  John  F.  Darby,  Henry 
Kayser,  Wayman  Crow,  James  E.  Yeatman,  James  Harrison,  Charles  S. 
Rannells, Gerard  B.Allen,  Philander  Salisbury,  William  Bennett,  Augus- 
tus Brewster,  and  William  M.  M'Pherson.  The  charter  is  forfeited  if  the 
land  is  devoted  to  any  other  purpose  than  that  of  a  cemetery.  At  the 
time  of  the  purchase  of  the  land,  the  road,  which  now  runs  along  the 
skirt  of  the  river  which  bounds  the  grounds  on  the  east  side,  ran  through 
them,  directly  up  the  hill,  but  was  changed  by  the  order  of  the  County 
Court.  It  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  positions  for  a  cemetery  that 
could  have  been  chosen — nature  appears  to  have  adapted  it  to  the  pur- 
pose. It  is  the  proper  distance  from  the  city,  and  has  a  retired,  romantic 
situation.  At  the  time  of  the  purchase  it  was  covered  with  a  fine  growth 
of  young  timber  in  a  thrifty  state,  and  a  large  portion  of  which  still  re- 
mains upon  the  grounds,  imparting  to  it  a  grandeur  which  could  not  be 
derived  from  any  foreign  umbrageous  importation.  The  main  road  in  the 
grounds  winds  gently  around  the  lofty  elevation,  and  almost  from  every 
point  on  the  east  side  can  be  seen  the  broad  surface  of  the  "  Father  of 
Waters,"  sublimely  sweeping  along  in  his  course  to  southern  latitudes. 

There  is,  even  now,  though  not  more  than  a  half-score  years  in  exist- 
ence, more  grandeur  about  Belle  Fontaine  Cemetery  than  in  vests  Green  wood, 
Laurel  Hill,  or  Auburn,  the  renowned-  cemeteries  of  the  old  Atlantic 
cities,  and  when  one  tithe  of  the  expense  has  been  devoted  to  it  which 
has  .been  so  prodigally  expended  upon  them,  the  sublimity  of  our 
western  cemetery,  assisted  by  the  tasteful  embellishments  of  art,  will  give 
to  it  a  striking  superiority. 

One  of  the  finest  features  of  the  act  of  incorporation  of  this  cemetery, 
and  which  lends  to  it  the  warm  lustre  of  fraternal  affection,  is  the  pro- 
vision that  it  must  be  free  from  all  sectarian  influences.  The  dead,  with 
all  the  opposition  of  their  different  creeds  hushed  by  the  power  of  death, 


AND    tfER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  403 

; — 

which  levels  all  and  silences  all,  here  can  repose  side  by  side  in  Christian 
brotherhood,  and  who,  beneath  the  same  sod,  can  await  the  glorious  re- 
surrection promised  by  the  one  beneficent  God,  who  looks  more  to  the 
heart  than  the  creed — more  to  genuine  piety  than  to  the  rules  of  doctrinal 
observances. 

1849  will  ever  be  a  marked  era  in  the  annals  of  St.  Louis,  and  the  suc- 
ceeding pages  will  fully  develop  to  the  reader  the  striking  causes  which 
give  to  it  a  noted  existence.  It  was  early  on  Thursday  evening  of  the 
19th  of  May,  that  there  were  several  alarms  of  fire,  but  they  were  either 
false  alarms,  or  insignificant  in  their  nature.  At  ten  o'clock  the  fire-bells 
again  rang,  and  in  a  few  moments,  blending  with  their  sound,  were  the 
ringing  of  the  steamboat  bells,  ominous  that  one  or  more  of  their  num- 
ber was  in  danger  of  fire.  The  import  was  truly  significant,  for  a  fire 
had  broken  out  on  the  White  Cloud,  lying  on  the  wharf  between  Vine 
and  Cherry  streets,  and  set  at  defiance  any  effort  made  to  quench  it. 
The  flames  were  quickly  communicated  to  four  other  boats  that  were 
contiguous,  and  the  immense  crowd  which  had  gathered  on  the  wharf 
were  of  opinion  that  these  boats  alone  would  be  victims  to  the  flames. 
Such,  however,  was  not  the  case,  and  things  commenced  to  assume  a 
terrible  aspect.  By  the  action  of  the  fire,  the  White  Cloud  had  become 
loosed  from  her  fastenings,  and,  drifting  out  in  the  current,  floated  down 
the  stream.  Directly  it  was  discovered  that  the  White  Cloud  was  on 
fire,  the  fleet  of  boats  at  the  wharf,  to  escape  the  conflagration,  had  cut 
their  cables,  and  were  carried  out  in  the  current,  and  among  these,  with 
no  power  to  escape,  for  the  steam  was  not  in  operation,  the  White  Cloud 
drifted  with  its  crackling  timbers.  By  the  philosophic  laws  which  govern 
heat  and  cold,  the  flames  wooed  the  sportive  currents  of  air,  which,  rush- 
ing to  the  burning  steamer,  carried  her  with  velocity  down  the  stream, 
and  into  the  midst  of  others,  whose  very  measures  of  safety  proved  their 
destruction.  Such  often  is  the  fallibility  of  reason,  and  we  reason  "but 
to  err." 

The  flames  from  the  White  Cloud  quickly  communicated  to  the  other 
steamers,  and  in  a  few  moments  the  spectacle  presented  itself  of  twenty- 
three  boats  in  flames.  It  was  a  sight  too  extensive  in  its  range — too 
terrible  in  its  sublimity  for  an  artist  to  transfer  to  the  canvas,  even  under 
the  rapt  influences  of  inspiration.  The  immense  conflagration  was  a  mile 
in  its  length.  The  light  was  painfully  brilliant.  It  radiated  all  things 
in  its  vicinity.  The  eddying  current  of  the  Mississippi  appeared  as  a 
Phlegethon  rolling  burning  waves ;  the  sound  of  the  devouring  flames 
licking  the  timbers  of  the  vessels,  could  be  distinctly  heard ;  and  the 
deep  darkness  of  the  forest  lining  the  Illinois  shore,  seemed  like  the  out- 
lines of  a  gloomy  Tartarus.  It  was  a  picture  of  ruin  and  desolation, 
produced  by  the  most  dangerous  of  the  elements,  which,  blended  with 
earth,  air,  and  water,  make  the  glorious  face  of  nature ;  and  there  was  a 
hush  among  the  immense  crowd  which  thronged  the  levee,  which  showed 
the  fleep  intensity  of  their  feelings. 

The  burning,  at  one  time,  of  twenty-three  boats  would  have  made  any 
conflagration  famous,  and  would  have  insured  a  record  on  th'e  pages  of 
history ;  but  this  great  conflagration  had  a  wider  range.  The  levee  was 
covered  by  bales,  barrels,  and  boxes  of  every  description,  and  some  of  them 
containing  the  most  combustible  materials.  The  flames  from  the  boats 


404  THE   GREAT    WEST 


reached  these,  and  the  wind  blowing  from  the  north-east,  they  were  finally 
communicated  to  a  row  of  shanties  on  the  river,  situated  between  Vine 
and  Locust  streets.  They  then  communicated  to  the  adjoining  square, 
south,  and,  favored  by  the  wind,  which  appeared  to  blow  most  propitious 
for  the  work  of  destruction,  many  blocks  of  houses  were  in -flames  at  one 
time,  and  the  efforts  of  the  devoted  firemen  were  almost  fruitless.  The 
fire  had  extended  over  too  great  a  surface,  and,  unfortunately,  at  an  early 
stage  the  water  had  given  out. 

We  will  now  follow  the  track  of  the  fire  in  its  ravages,  which  to  many 
of  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  may  be  a  matter  of  interest  and  anxious  in- 
quiry. The  little  row  of  shanties  on  the  south-east  corner  of  Locust 
street,  on  Front,  were  first  destroyed,  and  then  communicated  to  the  block 
of  buildings  on  Front  street,  between  Locust  and  Olive  streets.  The  fol- 
lowing entire  blocks  on  Front  street,  embracing  both  sides  of  Commer- 
cial street,  were  entirely  destroyed,  saving  the  few  exceptions  which  we 
will  mention.  The  block  between  Locust  and  Olive  streets  was  entirely 
destroyed,  with  the  exception  of  one  house,  owned  by  George  Collier, 
which  was  saved  by  the  efforts  of  some  persons  who  at  the  time  were  in 
the  building.  The  next  block  on  the  south,  between  Olive  and  Pine 
streets,  was  entirely  consumed,  and  also  the  entire  block  south  of  that, 
between  Pine  and  Chesnut  streets,  and  the  west  half  of  the  next  block  on 
the  south  side,  between  Chesnut  and  Market  streets,  with  the  exception 
of  one  house.  The  Market-house,  occupying  the  eastern  portion  of  the 
next  block,  between  Walnut  and  Chesnut,  was  saved  with  much  difficulty. 
Nearly  the  whole  of  the  portions  of  the  blocks  fronting  on  Main  street, 
and  situated  between  Locust  and  Chesnut  streets,  were  destroyed.  Half 
of  the  block  located  between  Olive  and  Pine  streets,  fronting  on  Second 
street,  was  burnt,  and  the  two  entire  blocks  between  Pine  and  Market 
streets,  and  fronting  on  Second  street,  were  consumed,  and  a  portion  of 
the  block  on  the  south  side  of  Market  street,  between  Main  and  Second 
streets. 

While  this  portion  of  the  town  was  burning,  a  fire  broke  out  in  the 
south  part  of  the  city,  on  Elm  street,  spilth  side,  and  nearly  all  of  the 
block  between  Front. and  Main  streets  was  destroyed,  and  the  whole  of  the 
block  between  Main  and  Second  streets.  The  block  on  the  south  side  of 
Myrtle,  between  Second  and  Third  streets,  was  also  nearly  consumed. 

We  have  now  indicated  the  locations  ravaged  by  the  fire,  and  the  area 
of  the  burnt  district  would  have  been  more  extensive  had  not  a  resort  to 
blowing  up  buildings  with  gunpowder  been  resorted  to,  to  open  chasms 
between  the  buildings  where  the  flames  might  spread  themselves.  In  one 
of  the  explosions,  a  worthy  citizen  was  killed.  Mr.  T.  B.  Targee  had 
been  a  large  auctioneer  in  the  city.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was 
the  weigher  of  the  city,  and  his  business  and  social  worth  had  endeared 
him  to  a  large  number  of  friends,  and  his  life,  thus  lost  by  an  unfortunate 
accident,  and  while  assisting  in  stopping  the  course  of  the  flames,  was 
deeply  lamented.  There  were  several  others  seriously  wounded  by  the 
explosion,  among  whom  were  Russel  Prentiss  and  Wells  Colton. 

In  this  immense  conflagration,  there  were  twenty-three  steamboats, 
three  barges,  and  one  canal-boat  destroyed ;  the  total  value  of  the  boats 
and  cargoes  was  estimated  at  $439,000.  The  whole  value  of  property 
destroyed  by  the  conflagration  exceeded  three  millions  of  dollars. 


AND   HER    COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  405 

Such  a  conflagration  in  most  cities  had  staid  the  tide  of  prosperity,  and 
so  interrupted  the  business  channels  that  it  would  have  taken  years  to 
recover  from  it.  The  vital  functions  of  St.  Louis  were,  however,  too  full 
and  extensive  even  to  be  weakened  by  the  destruction  of  such  an  amount 
of  property.  The  very  loss  proved,  on  the  contrary,  a  benefit  and  a 
blessing,  like  the  tree  that  gathers  more  vigor  when  cropped  of  its  luxu- 
riance. Immediately  after  the  fire,  the  property-holders  held  a  meeting, 
to  take  counsel  what  should  be  done  in  the  emergency.  The  property- 
holders  on  Main  street  determined  to  petition  the  city  council  to  widen 
that  great  avenue  of  business,  and  as  the  city  had  not  to  purchase  any 
of  the  land,  their  request  was  at  once  complied  with,  and  in  commencing 
to  build  up  that  street,  the  foundations  were  considerably  withdrawn  from 
the  former  bounds  of  the  buildings,  and  Main  street  was  widened  to  its 
present  limits. 

In  understanding  the  limits  of  the  burnt  district,  it  will  be  perceived 
that  Front  street,  from  Locust  to  Market,  was  entirely  destroyed  by  the 
flames,  with  the  exception  of  two  or  three  houses  on  the  west  side  of 
Commercial  street.  Between  Commercial  street  and  the  levee  there  was 
not  one  left.  The  block  on  Front  street,  extending  to  Vine,  was  like- 
wise much  injured.  It  was  then  a  fine  opportunity  to  extend  the  levee 
from  Front  to  Commercial  street,  and  from  Vine  to  Market  street.  This 
would  have  been  a  levee  suitable  to  the  immense  and  constantly-increasing 
business  of  the  great  Metropolis  of  the  West,  and  some  of  the  most  en- 
terprising citizens  suggested  that  the  city  authorities  should  buy  the 
property,  and  in  future  years,  as  the  city  increased  in  size,  and  its  multi- 
plying wants  demanded  more  space  on  the  levee,  it  could  gradually  pur- 
chase, and  in  time  St.  Louis  would  have  one  of  the  noblest  levees  in  the 
world — that  would  insure  her  against  any  accidental  fire  that  might  occur 
on  the  steamboats,  and  also  from  the  damage  arising  from  the  great  rise 
of  waters  which,  at  certain  periods,  are  incidental  to  the  Mississippi  and 
its,tributaries.  Many  of  the  citizens  were,  however,  averse  to  this  great 
measure,  and  with  some  show  of  reason.  They  contended  that  the  city 
was  already  somewhat  straitened  in  its  resources  by  the  calamity  of  the 
fire,  and  the  purchase  of  four  extensive  blocks  would  be  unwise  at  that 
juncture,  as  it  was  impossible  that  any  additional  financial  weight  could  be 
supported. 

There  was  another  very  forcible  argument  alleged  against  the  enterpris- 
ing measure,  which  would  ultimately  have  insured  the  widening  of  the 
levee  along  its  whole  extent.  It  was  contended  that  legislation  should  be 
equal,  and  if  the  levee  was  widened  only  at  the  burnt  district,  its  enlarged 
proportions  and  business  facilities  would  have  a  tendency  of  making  that 
quarter  the  nucleus  of  the  great  trade  of  St.  Louis.  There  were  many 
means  proposed  to  the  city  council  of  widening  the  levee,  and  after  much 
consideration,  that  body  determined  to  make  it  wider  by  drawing  some- 
what on  the  wide  domain  of  the  Father  of  Waters.  The  wharf  was  filled 
in  to  low-water  mark,  which  made  considerable  addition  to  the  levee,  but 
not  sufficient  to  give  it  the  extent  which  the  business  of  the  city  re- 
quires.* 

. • 

*  Mayor  Barry  conceived  and  commenced  the  first  wharf  improvements,  which  were 
afterward  so  efficiently  carried  out  by  his  successor. 


406  THE   GREAT  WEST 


The  origin  of  the  great  fire  will  ever  remain  a  mystery.  That  it  was 
the  work  of  an  incendiary  many  supposed,  and  there  existed  some  strong 
evidence  of  the  fact.  There  were  several  arrests  made,  and  testimony 
taken  which  strongly  showed  that  some  "fiend  incarnate"  had  com- 
mitted the  diabolical  act  of  firing  the  steamboat  White  Cloud,  which 
gave  birth  to  the  conflagration.  However,  nothing  could  be  legally  proved 
against  the  suspected  persons,  and  the  steamer  may  have  taken  fire  from 
some  sparks  communicated  by  the  passing  boats.  If  the  fire  were  acci- 
dental, this  is  the  only  rational  mode  of  accounting  for  it,  as  there  was 
no  fire  on  board  the  White  Cloud,  she  having  been  some  weeks  under- 
going repairs. 

As  we  noticed  before,  the  cholera  had  made  its  appearance  in  St.  Louis 
at  the  close  of  the  year  1848,  and  after  a  few  deaths,  the  disease  had 
wholly  disappeared.  Early  in  the  spring  of  1 849,  it  again  returned, 
deaths  occurring  each  day,  and  increasing  in  numbers  as  the  days  length- 
ened and  commenced  to  glow  with  the  warm  breath  of  approaching  sum- 
mer. It  may  be  here  remarked,  that  if  there  were  any  place  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  which  could  furnish  in  abundance  aliment  for  the  cholera, 
St.  Louis  was  that  place.  Most  of  the  alleys  were  unpaved,  and  were 
used  as  repositories  for  all  kinds  of  filth  thrown  from  the  dwellings,  and 
which  had  become  blended  with  the  soil  one  or  two  feet  below  the  surface. 
When  the  alleys  were  cleansed,  the  surface  only  was  scraped,  and  the  rest 
was  left  to  exhale  its  poisonous  particles.  In  many  parts  of  the  city,  the 
cellars  contained  water,  which,  becoming  stagnant,  like  so  many  Dead 
Seas,  infected  the  atmosphere,  offering  all  the  elements  of  nutrition  to  a 
malignant  pestilence  like  the  cholera.  There  was  not  a  sewer  in  the  city, 
which  could  have  corrected  this  last  evil  by  draining  the.  cellars. 

In  June,  the  disease  assumed  a  malignity  which  set  at  naught  the  ap- 
pliances of  science,  and  carried  consternation  among  the  inhabitants. 
Then  it  was,  at  that  hour,  that  the  most  efficient  sanitary  measures 
were  taken.  The  streets  were  swept,  alleys  were  cleansed,  and  all  the 
train  of  disinfectant  agencies  were  resorted  to.  It  was  all  in  vain — the 
enemy  had  gained  possession  of  the  citadel  before  proper  measures  had 
been  taken  to  combat  it. 

When  this  terrific  malady  was  raging  in  all  of  its  virulence,  and  noth- 
ing could  stay  its  progress,  the  columns  of  the  daily  journals  were  teeming 
•with  speculative  theories  on  the  cause  of  the  disease,  and  the  proper 
measures  to  effect  its  cure.  A  board  of  the  most  respectable  physicians 
in  the  city,  after  careful  consultation,  gave  it  as  their  opinion  that  a 
vegetable  diet  was  highly  injurious,  and  a  meat  diet  less  liable  to  objec- 
tions than  any  other.  In  accordance  with  the  opinions  of  the  board  of 
physicians,  the  city  council  issued  an  ordinance  prohibiting  the  sale  of 
vegetables  within  the  city  limits ;  and  a  large  class  of  horticulturists,  who 
had  depended  upon  St.  Louis  as  their  market,  were  compelled  to  let 
their  vegetables  remain  ungathered  upon  the  soil.  The  fiat  of  the  city 
council  was  productive  of  golden  times  for  the  butchers,  for  the  approval 
of  meat  as  an  article  of  diet  was  construed  by  some  as  a  remedy  for  the 
disease,  and  meat  was  devoured  in  quantities  unknown  before  in  domestic 
annals.  • 

In  despite,  however,  of  the  meat  diet,  the  cleansing  and  purifying  of 
streets  and  alleys,  and  all  the  various  applications  of  disinfectant  agents, 


AND    HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  407 

day  by  clay  the  pestilence  increased,  and  the  mortality  reached  the 
alarming  number  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  deaths  per  diem.  Then 
other  theories  began  to  be  advanced,  and  other  remedies  prescribed  for 
the  disease  by  physicians,  which  were  totally  at  variance  with  the  regimen 
which  other  physicians  had  advocated.  The  meat  diet  being  proved  as 
no  preventive  to  the  disease,  a  crusade  was  entered  against  it,  condemn- 
ing its  stimulating  properties,  and  declaring  that  it  put  the  system  in  a 
state  which  made  it  liable  to  receive  the  infection.  The  vegetable  diet, 
which  had  received  the  unqualified  condemnation  of  one  set  of  physi- 
cians, was  declared  by  others  to  be  the  natural  food  of  man,  and  the  most 
suitable  diet  during  the  existence  of  the  infectious  malady.  It  was  truly 
a  time  for  the  disagreement  of  the  doctors,  and  the  city  authorities,  half 
converted  by  the  eulogies  that  had  been  pronounced  upon  vegetables,  and 
half  convinced  by  the  proof  that  man  was  naturally  akin  to  ruminating  an- 
imals, formally  revoked  their  former  ordinance,  which  had  declared  the  pro- 
hibition of  the  sale  of  vegetables.  Each  one  of  the  dietetic  systems  had  its 
friends  and  advocates,  and  while  they  were  doubtless  injuring  themselves 
by  the  practice  of  either  exclusive  theory,  there  was  a  small  class  of  the 
citizens  more  wisely  adopting  no  extremes,  knowing  that  health  depends 
upon  a  few  simple  laws,  who  pursued  a  dietetic  course  that  would  strengthen 
the  system,  keep  in  healthful  play  the  vital  functions,  and  who  studiously 
avoided  the  enervating  influence  of  strong  mental  excitement.  This 
class  of  persons  suffered  but  little  from  the  cholera.  The  malady  seldom 
attacked  them,  and  if  it  did,  so  well  fortified  was  the  system  that  it  suc- 
cessfully resisted  it. 

Throughout  the  spring  and  early  «part  of  summer,  every  boat  coming 
from  New  Orleans  was  freighted  with  crowds  of  emigrants,  and  they, 
fatigued  with  a  long  voyage,  and  landing  from  crowded  ships  with  their 
bodies  in  a  debilitated  state,  were  slaughtered  in  hecatombs  by  the  dread- 
ful pestilence.  The  city  authorities  determined  to  prevent  the  arrival  of 
emigrants  who  were  likely  to  bear  about  them  the  seeds  of  any  dis-. 
ease,  by  subjecting  the  boats  to  quarantine  regulations.  Then  again 
physicians  opposed  the  measure,  on  the  grounds  of  the  non-contagious 
character  of  the  cholera,  but  the  citizens  urged  the  adoption  of  the  meas- 
ure, having  lost  much  faith  in  medicinal  faith  and  practice.  At  the 
recommendation  of  the  Committee  of  Public  Health,  the  city  council 
adopted  quarantine  regulations,  and  issued  an  ordinance  to  that  effect, 
empowering  the  mayor  and  Committee  of  Public  Health  to  select  the 
location,  and  to  erect  suitable  tents  and  sheds  for  the  accommodation  of 
those  who  should  be  taken  from  boats  with  the  infectious  disorder,  or 
those  whom  it  should  be  adjudged  proper  should  not  proceed  to  the  city, 
from  the  probability  of  bearing  about  them  the  seeds  of  disease.  A  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  select  a  site  for  the  quarantine,  and  A.  B. 
Chambers  and  R.  S.  Blennerhassett,  who,  having  called  to  their  assistance 
the  aid  of  Dr.  Richard  F.  Barrett,  selected  the  site  oh  Arsenal  Island, 
and  their  selection  was  at  once  adopted.*  A  committee  was  forthwith 
appointed  to  make  the  necessary  preparations,  and  A.  B.  Chambers, 
Thomas  Gray,  Thomas  Dennis,  R.  S.  Blennerhassett,  and  Luther  M.  Ken- 

*  Mayor  Barry  had  before  gone  to  the  island,  and  attentively  examining  its  position, 
recommended  it  to  the  committee  as  most  suitable  for  a  quarantine. 


408 


THE   GREAT   WEST 


nett,  were  chosen  for  this  responsible  purpose,  and  Dr.  Barrett  was  ap- 
pointed physician-in-chief,  and  afterward  to  Dr.  Carrow  was  entrusted 
the  visiting  of  the  boats  up  the  river.  The  adoption  of  quarantine  reg- 
ulations, by  giving  to  the  emigrants  airy  and  comfortable  quarters,  and 
skilful  attendance,  doubtless  took  from  the  pestilence  one-half  of  its 
victims. 

So  long  and  fatal  was  this  dreadful  visitation,  and  so  ineffectual  all 
human  remedies,  that  the  Committee  of  Health  appointed  the  second  of 
July  as  a  day  of  humiliation  and  prayer,  that  the  Almighty  Power  might 
have  compassion,  and  stop  its  ravages.  It  was  not  until  late  in  the 
month  of  July  that  there  was  any  diminution  in  the  number  of  deaths, 
and  then,  while  the  citizens  had  commenced  to  enjoy  the  prospect  of  a 
daily  diminution,  and  to  feel  that  the  tenure  of  life  was  less  precarious, 
again  there  was  a  conflagration,  produced  by  the  burning  of  five  steam- 
boats, which,  with  their  cargoes,  were  estimated  to  the  value  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

About  the  middle  of  August  the  disease  had  nearly  disappeared.  The 
season  of  its  greatest  virulence  was  from  the  last  of  April  to  the  first 
week  in  August,  and  the  following  table  will  show  the  extent  of  mortality 
during  this  period  for  each  week : 


For  week  ending 


Total  deaths.  Cholera. 


April  30 131 


7. 
'"  14. 
'  21. 
'  28. 
June  4 . 
'  11. 
'  18 


135 
273 
192 
186 
144 
283 
510 


41 

78 

185 

127 

115 

75 

191 

404 


For  week  ending 
June   25  

Total  deaths.  Cholera. 
763           589 

July      2  .  .    .  . 

903           619 

»         9  

773           591 

"       16  

867           639 

"       23  

442            269 

"       30  

225             93 

August  6   ... 

..    .   152             34 

5,989        4,060 

From  June  25th  to  July  16th  was  the  most  fatal  period  of  this  dreadful 
scourge,  which  has  left  its  impress  upon  the  table  of  time,  as  a  marked 
event  that  is  not  to  be  forgotten.  The  able  report  of  the  Committee  of 
Health  shows  that  the  mortality  was  greatest  in  those  districts  where 
there  were  the  greatest  number  of  unpaved  alleys  and  streets,  in  which 
filth  of  all  kinds  was  deposited,  and  allowed  to  accumulate  and  fester,  the 
localities  being  never  visited  by  the  scavenger  carts  to  remove  it.  Moist 
and  improperly  ventilated  apartments  likewise  offered  encouragement  to 
the  disease.  The  report  of  the  committee  was  sensible,  logical,  and  truth- 
ful.* It  must  be  evident,  from  the  great  number  of  deaths,  that  some  of 
the  best  citizens  would  be  among  the  number.  Such  was  the  fact.  Drs. 
Hardage  Lane  and  Thomas  Barbour,  both  eminent  physicians,  Rev.  Mr. 
Vancourt,  a  minister  of  the  Episcopal  church,  William  K.  Titcomb,  a 
member  of  the  bar  (and  at  a  meeting  of  the  brother  members  of  the 

*  This  report  was  made  by  T.  T.  Gantt,  L.  M.  Kennett,  and  Trusten  Polk. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  appointed  by  the  city  council  and  mayor  the  Com- 
mittee of  Public  Health  during  the  existence  of  the  cholera : — R.  S.  Blennerhasset, 
James  Clemens,  Jr.,  Trusten  Polk,  G.  Thomas,  A.  B.  Chambers,  Isaac  A.  Hedges,  J.  M 
Field,  L.  M.  Kennett.  Lewis  Bach,  William  G.  Clark,  T.  T.  Gantt,  and  George  Collier. 
Messrs.  Clemens  and  Collier  being  unwell,  H.  L.  Patterson  and  Thomas  Dennis  were 
appointed  in  their  stead. 


AND   HER   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  409 

profession,  called  in  consequence  of  his  decease,  complimentary  resolutions 
were  passed),  and  many  others  occupying  high  social  and  business  posi- 
tions. During  the  prevalence  of  the  cholera,  there  died,  but  not  of  that 
malady,  Rev.  Whiting  W.  Griswold,  rector  of  St.  John's  Church,  a  popular 
divine  and  exemplary  Christian,  Colonel  McRee,  of  the  United  States 
army,  and  Sylvester  Labadie,  an  amiable  and  worthy  citizen,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  one  of  the  ancient  families  of  the  city.  At  this  time  also  died, 
from  an  attack  of  the  cholera,  Dr.  Bernard  G.  Farrar,  the  oldest  Amer- 
ican physician  that  came  to  St.  Louis,  after  the  transfer  of  the  Prov- 
ince of  Louisiana  to  the  American  government. 

At  length  St.  Louis  was  relieved  from  the  lengthened  tribulation  to 
which  it  had  been  subjected,  and  business,  which  had  been  neglected, 
began  to  receive  some  attention.  The  city,  indeed,  presented  a  forlorn 
aspect.  The  heart  of  its  business  destroyed  by  fire,  and  almost  a  tithe 
of  its  inhabitants  swept  away  by  the  scourge,  for  a  little  period  it  exhibit- 
ed a  picture  ominous  of  an  early  death,  and  final  ruin  ;  yet  the  city 
founded  by  the  French  trader  could  not  die — it  was  too  full  of  vitality. 
As  soon  as  the  cholera  disappeared,  the  burnt  district  was  again  the  scene 
of  business  import.  Many  buildings  which  had  been  commenced  before, 
and  which  had  been  staid  by  the  prevalence  of  the  cholera,  were  again 
resumed,  with  many  more,  and  soon,  like  the  fabled  bird  of  classic  lore, 
a  new  class  of  buildings  sprung  into  existence  from  the  ashes  of  the  old. 
The  new  buildings  gave  all  the  indications  of  progressive  life.  They 
were  far  more  capacious  than  the  old,  possessing  greater  business  conve- 
niencies,  and  were  put  up  in  a  manner  which  would  not  ever  again  subject 
them  to  the  same  accident  by  fire — being  made  fire-proof. 

Fortunate  in  such  a  calamity,  the  property  destroyed  was  principally  of 
those  who  could  bear  the  loss,  and  had  means  to  build  again.  Though 
some  of  the  insurance  offices  of  the  city  failed,  and  could  only  pay  a 
small  pro  rata  of  the  insurance,  there  were  others  who  cancelled  every 
farthing  of  their  obligations;  all  of  the  foreign  insurance  was  paid. 
Above  two-thirds  of  the  loss  was  covered  by  insurance,  most  of  which 
was  recovered. 

This  year,  as  if  to  second  the  efforts  of  the  enterprising  inhabitants, 
who  had  determined  not  to  be  laid  prostrate  by  the  blow,  and  were  again 
"  up  and  doing,"  a  beneficent  Providence  had  sent  bountiful  crops,  and 
the  fertile  field  of  the  great  western  country  was  loaded  with  a  plenteous 
harvest.  This  commenced  to  flow  from  every  quarter  into  the  port  of  St. 
Louis,  and  large  supplies  of  goods  were  purchased  by  country  merchants 
to  supply  the  wants  of  their  thrifty  customers.  Ere  many  months  had 
passed  away,  the  exsiccated  currents  of  business  returned  to  their  former 
channels,  with  their  currents  swelled  and  increased,  and  every  tributary 
quickened  into  increased  motion  and  vitality.  The  pestilence  and  the 
conflagration,  like  the  storms  in  nature,  though  carrying  destruction  in 
their  course,  and  bringing  ruin  in  special  instances,  yet  resulted  in  the  gen- 
eral good,  and  were  productrVe  of  the  most  healthful  influences.  The 
widening  of  Main  street,  the  improvement  of  the  levee,  the  new  and 
capacious  buildings  on  the  ruins  of  those  consumed — all  increased  the 
business  facilities  of  the  city,  and  added  to  its  embellishment.  The  pes- 
tilence was  the  worst  calamity.  It  entered  the  sensitive  sphere  of  the 
affections,  and  there  committed  its  ravages.  It  left  the  city  in  the  sable 


410  THE   GREAT  WEST 


weeds  of  mourning;  but  to  avoid  a  like  result  in  the  future,  straightway 
were  adopted  more  sanitary  regulations  for  the  city,  and  the  system  of 
sewerage  was  commenced  in  an  effectual  manner,  thereby  securing  the 
general  health  and  adding  to  the  general  prosperity  and  happiness. 

This  year  the  Pacific  Railroad  occupied  much  of  the  attention  of  the 
citizens  of  St.  Louis.  Some  years  before  a  project  had  been  before  Con- 
gress to  build  a  national  railroad  to  the  Pacific,  known  as  the  Whitney 
Scheme,  which  had  very  properly  been  rejected  by  that  body,  though  it 
had  many  friends.  Since  that  time,  the  possession  of  California,  and  the 
immense  immigration  which  had  flocked  to  its  borders  since  the  discovery 
of  its  rich  gold  mines,  had  rendered  the  project  of  a  national  railroad  to 
the  Pacific  much  more  feasible.  To  connect  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
oceans,  so  that  Asia  might  be  brought  into  close  approximation  to  the 
eastern  states,  and  that  the  east  and  west  of  the  Union  should  be  united 
both  by  railroad  and  magnetic  telegraph,  became  a  favorite  idea  of  the 
people  of  St.  Louis,  and  to  effect  this  favorite  measure,  after  frequent 
meetings,  it  was  resolved  to  call  a  great  mass  convention  to  consider  the 
expediency  of  a  Great  National  Pacific  Railway.  The  15th  of  October 
was  fixed  for  the  convention,  and  invitations  and  notices  were  sent  to  the 
most  prominent  citizens  of  the  Union.  On  the  15th  of  October,  the 
members  chosen  from  the  different  states  to  represent  their  interest  as- 
sembled in  the  court-house,  and  the  meeting  was  called  to  order — Judge 
A.  T.  Ellis,  of  Indiana,  being  chosen  to  preside  for  the  occasion.  On  the 
following  day,  the  convention  was  organized,  and  the  following  gentlemen 
were  elected  to  hold  the  offices  of  honor : — For  president — Hon.  Stephen 
A.  Douglass  of  Illinois.  For  vice-presidents — W.  L.  Totten,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania ;  Samuel  Forrer,  of  Ohio ;  Samuel  Emison,  of  Indiana ;  Henry  J. 
Eastin,  of  Kentucky;  Hon.  Joseph  Williams,  of  Iowa;  Charles  Bracken, 
of  Wisconsin  ;  Henry  S.  Geyer,  of  Missouri;  John  Biddle,  of  Michigan  ; 
Amherst  K.  Williams,  of  New  York  ;  and  Hon.  W.  B.  Scates,  of  Illinois. 
For  secretaries — A.  B.  Chambers,  of  Missouri ;  W.  H.  Wallace,  of  Iowa  ; 
A.  S.  Mitchell,  of  Kentucky  ;  W.  G.  Minor,  of  Missouri ;  and  T.  A.  Stuart, 
of  Illinois. 

The  convention  was  attended  by  representatives  from  nearly  every 
state  in  the  Union,  some  of  them  sending  a  large  delegation.  After 
much  consultation,  it  was  resolved  by  the  convention  that  there  was  a 
necessity  for  such  a  road,  and  that  the  general  government  should  build 
it.  A  committee  was  chosen  to  prepare  an  address  to  the  people  of  the 
Union,  urging  their  co-operation  in  influencing  Congress  to  take  effective 
action  in  the  matter,  and  comply  with  the  general  wish.  The  gentlemen 
selected  as  the  committee  were  Thomas  Allen,  of  Missouri ;  William  S. 
Wait,  of  Illinois;  Oliver  H.  Smith,  of  Indiana;  J.  G.  Law,  of  Ohio; 
Charles  Naylor,  of  Pennsylvania;  C.  C.  Lathrop,  of  Louisiana;  James 
Clark,  of  Iowa ;  A.  K.  Lawrence,  of  New  York ;  John  Biddle,  of  Michi- 
gan ;  M.  F.  Maury,  of  Virginia;  W.  F.  Bouden,  of  Wisconsin;  Basil 
Duke,  of  Kentucky  ;  Robert  Chambers,  *of  New  Jersey ;  and  G.  W. 
Lincoln,  of  Tennessee. 

The  'address  prepared  by  the  committee  was  a  very  able  one,  covered 
the  whole  ground  of  the  practicability  and  advantages  of  the  road,  and 
was  given  a  wide  circulation  by  the  press.  It  had  the  effect  of  influencing 
the  public  mind  in  the  right  direction,  and  a  great  national  highway  to 


AND    HER   COMMERCIAL    METROPOLIS.  411 

the  Pacific  ocean  by  railroad  is  still  a  favorite  measure,  and  there  is  every 
indication  that  it  will  soon  be  effected.  The  people  of  St.  Louis  wore  the 
first  to  make  an  effective  movement  in  this  great  measure,  and  the. mem- 
bers of  the  different  states  composing  the  convention  were  the  guests  of 
the  city. 

This  year  the  medical  department  of  the  St.  Louis  University,  situated  on 
the  corner  of  Seventh  and  Myrtle  streets,  was  built.*  It  is  a  magnificent 
structure,  and  owes  its  erection  to  the  munificence  "of  Colonel  John 
O'Falloii.  It  is  an  ornament  to  the  city,  and  is  a  splendid  offering  to  the 
elevating  purposes  of  progressive  science. 

This  year  Louis  A.  Lebaume  was  elected  assistant  treasurer  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  gentlemen  who  endorsed  his  bond,  in  their  aggre- 
gate wealth,  were  worth  more  than  five  millions  of  dollars.  We  have 
alluded  to  this  instance  of  individual  fortune  merely  as  evidence  of  the 
wealth  of  some  of  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis.f 

City  life  is  ever  liable  to  excitement.  There  is  always  something  tran- 
spiring outside  of  the  ordinary  course  of  events,  which  serves  to  keep 
the  public  mind  in  the  whirlpool  of  unhealthful  and  dangerous  agitation. 
We  will  relate  an  event  of  this  kind,  occurring  in  St.  Louis  at  the  date 
under  which  we  write. 

It  was  the  close  of  the  month  of  October  when  two  gentlemen,  with 
their  hunting  equipments  and  their  dog,  arrived  at  the  City  Hotel,  corner 
of  Third  and  Vine  streets,  then  kept  by  Theron  Barnum.  They  were 
dressed  in  hunting  costume,  and  bore  about  them  the  unmistakable  in- 
dications of  foreigners.  They  applied  to  Mr.  Kirby  Barnum,  a  nephew 
of  the  proprietor,  for  accommodations,  and,  after  some  objection  on  their 
parts  to  some  apartments  that  were  shown  them,  they  were  finally  domi- 
ciled, and  became  guests  of  the  hotel.  Between  them  and  Mr.  Kirby 
Barnum  there  had  been  some  disagreement,  first  regarding  their  rooms, 
and  afterward  concerning  a  favorite  dog  the  travellers  had  with  them. 
There  was  no  open  rupture,  however,  and  it  was  proved  upon  the  trial 
that  the  deportment  of  the  strangers  was  exemplary,  and  that  they  kept 
aloof  from  the  other  guests  of  the  hotel,  and  remained  comparatively 
isolated.  There  was  something  strange,  however,  about  their  movements, 
which  provoked  attention  and  elicited  inquiry.  This  preamble  is  only 
given  as  a  necessary  introduction  to  the  tragical  scene,  which  we  will  now 
relate. 

On  the  evening  of  the  29th  of  October,  Mr.  Kirby  Barnum  retired  to 
his  room,  in  which  was  his  room-mate,  John  McComber.  He  threw  off 
his  coat,  and  was  in  the  act  of  winding  up  his  watch,  when  he  saw  a 

*  This  well  known  medical  organization  sprang  into  existence  in  1841,  principally 
through  the  exertions  of  J.  W.  Hall  of  North  Carolina,  Dr.  James  V.  Prather  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  Dr.  A.  Prout  of  Alabama.  Soon  after  the  organization,  the  building  was 
commenced  on  "Washington  Avenue,  adjoining  the  St.  Louis  University  property.  The 
professors  consisted  of  the  above-named  gentlemen,  and  through  their  invitation,  Dr. 
Charles  A.  Pope  of  Alabama,  Joseph  G.  Norwood  of  Indiana,  and  M.  L.  Lintou  ot 
Kentucky,  came  to  assist  their  professional  labors,  and  made  part  of  the  first  faculty. 
The  building  was  erected  through  the  continued  exertions  of  Drs.  Hall  arid  Prather. 
and  these  gentlemen,  from  their  private  purse,  purchased  many  of  the  outfits  essential 
to  the  Medical  College,  so  that  it  could  go  at  once  into  successful  operation. 

\  The  gentlemen  who  went  on  the  bond,  were  James  Lucas,  Colonel  John  O'Falloii, 
Louis  A.  Benoist,  and  "William  L.  Ewing. 
19 


412  THE   GREAT   WEST 


man  armed  with  a  gun  skulking  along  the  piazza  fronting  his  window. 
He  hurriedly  told  the  circumstance  to  his  room-mate,  who  sprang  from 
his  bed,  and  made  to  the  door,  followed  by  Mr.  Barnum,  but  the  latter  fell 
headlong  in  the  hall  as  he  reached  the  door-sill,  from  a  shot  fired  by  the 
assassin  through  the  window,  which  he  had  broken  with  the  point  of  his 
gun  previous  to  firing.  The  noise  of  the  report  aroused  Mr.  Albert  Jones, 
who  was  in  a  room  on  the  same  floor,  who  opened  his  door  to  ascertain 
the  cause  of  the  firing,  when  he  was  shot  dead,  and  II.  M.  Henderson  and 
Captain  W.  D.  Hnbbell,  who  were  rooming  with  him,  were  both  wounded, 
the  former  in  the  temple,  and  the  latter  in  the  hand.  The  whole  house 
was  almost  instantly  aroused  ;  for  the  startling  cry  of  mnrderwas  shrieked 
along  the  halls  of  the  hotel,  at  the  hour  of  midnight. 

Mr.  Barnum,  though  fatally  wounded,  was  still  conscious,  and  accused 
the  smaller  of  the  two  Frenchmen — the  strangers  of  whom  we  have  be- 
fore spoken — as  being  the  person  who  fired  the  shot.  There  was  an  im- 
mediate search  for  the  supposed  assassins,  and  one  of  the  Frenchmen  was 
arrested  in  the  crowd  which  had  thronged  the  hotel,  and  the  other  in  his 
room,  after  a  futile  effort  to  use  his  gun.  The  excitement  on  the  occasion 
had  led  nearly  to  the  most  serious  consequences,  and  the  incensed  crowd 
talked  of  resorting  at  once  to  summary  punishment,  but  the  officers 
promptly  conducted  the  prisoners  to  the  jail,  from  which  they  were  removed 
to  the  arsenal,  so  as  to  be  under  the  protection  of  the  United  States  troops. 

On  the  trial  before  the  Criminal  Court,  some  months  afterward,  the 
following  facts  were  elicited  : — The  prisoners  were  both  French  noblemen, 
and  being  known  as  faithful  adherents  to  the  royal  cause,  at  the  outbreak 
in  Paris  some  months  previous,  which  overthrew  the  Bourbon  dynasty, 
and  compelled  the  king  to  flee  for  his  life,  to  escape  imprisonment  and 
probably  death  if  they  remained,  embarked  for  the  United  States,  intend- 
ing to  remain  until  they  could  return  to  France  in  safety.  Being  passion- 
ately fond  of  hunting,  they  had  come  to  the  West,  whose  prairies  at  that 
time  were  most  prolific  in  game,  so  as  to  indulge  in  that  favorite  amuse- 
ment ;  and  had  reached  St.  Louis  provided  with  all  the  accoutrements 
suitable  for  their  purpose,  each  travelling  in  a  buggy.  It  was  proved  also 
that  the  two  Frenchmen  were  named  Gonsalve  and  Raymond  Montesquieu, 
and  were  scions  of  a  noble  family,  and  that  the  eldest  of  the  two  brothers, 
Gonsalve  Montesquieu,  by  his  own  confession,  fired  the  shots,  alleging  that 
"God  made  him  do  it!"  It  was  also  proved  that  insanity  was  hereditary 
in  the  family,  his  father  having  committed  suicide,  leaving  a  letter  say- 
ing that  he  was  involved  in  pecuniary  difficulties,  when  his  fortune  left 
exceeded  four  millions  of  francs ;  that  Gonsalve  had  also  frequently  ex- 
hibited indications  of  an  unbalanced  intellect,  and  that  one  of  his  brothers 
in  France  had  been  confined  in  a  hospital  for  the  insane. 

In  the  first  trial  of  the  prisoners,  the  jury  could  not  agree ;  at  the 
second  trial,  Gonsalve  was  acquitted  on  the  ground  of  insanity.*  Raymond 
was  shown  to  be  innocent.  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  Gonsalve 
had  borne  within  him  the  elements  of  that  species  of  latent  insanity  that 
only  develops  itself  under  peculiar  circumstances — when  some  potent 
agencies  call  into  life  and  action  the  maddening  power,  which  like  a  demon 

*  The  elder  Montesquieu,  on  his  return  to  France,  became  a  confirmed  maniic,  and 
was  confined  in  an  Insane  Asylum. 


AND   HER    COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  413 

assumes  the  sway  of  unfortunate  individuals,  and  drives  them  to  the  com- 
mission of  acts  for  which  they  are  neither  morally  nor  legally  responsible. 
During  the  very  year  that  the  unfortunate  catastrophe  occurred  at  the 
City  Hotel,  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri  lost  from  its  vaults  the 
enormous  sum  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars.  That  it  was 
stolen  there  was  no  doubt;  but  who  the  person  or  persons  were  who 
committed  the  larceny  will  ever  be  a  matter  of  speculation.  One  of  the 
bank  officers,  who  had  resigned  his  position  a  little  time  before  the  dis- 
covery of  the  fraud,  was  charged  with  the  offence,  arrested,  tried,  and, 
after  a  protracted  trial,  acquitted. 

CONCLUSION. 

Since  1850,  the  population  of  St.  Louis  has  almost  trebled.  Previous 
to  that  time,  its  march  had  been  progressive;  but  then  it  took  colossal 
strides,  and  its  advance  in  wealth  and  population  exceeded  all  business 
calculation,  and  the  expectations  of  its  most  sanguine  friends.  The  seven 
great  railway  steins,  which  make  the  great  metropolis  a  terminus,  have 
given  new  business  facilities.  They  run,  in  their  thousands  of  miles'  course, 
through  the  richest  section  of  country  on  the  globe,  and  St.  Louis  is  the 
natural  recipient  of  their  freights.  It  is  owing  principally  to  these  roads 
that  the  wealth,  population,  and  business  of  St.  Louis  have  advanced  with 
such  unparalleled  rapidity  ;  and  year  by  year,  branches  are  being  added 
to  these  main  stems,  which,  like  radicals,  are  extending  into  new  regions, 
contracting  new  vigor,  and  increasing  the  elements  of  vitality. 

St.  Louis  has  a  location  which  has  been  so  bountifully  fashioned  by 
nature,  that  there  is  nothing  left  to*  wish  for  in  the  way  of  natural  ad- 
vantages. Situated  almost  midway  on  the  course  of  the  "Father  of 
Waters,"  she  has  all  the  advantages  of  the  northern  and  southern  trade ; 
the  immense  and  rapidly-increasing  commerce  of  the  great  Missouri  falls 
naturally  into  her  lap;  and  the  Illinois,  flowing  through  its  rich  prairies, 
flows  onward  to  the  favored  city,  and  lands  its  rich  freights  upon  her 
levee.  She  has  still  more  advantages,  which  make  more  certain  the 
brilliancy  of  the  future.  All  of  the  immense  regions  now  lying  in  their 
primitive  wildness,  and  uninhabited,  will  gradually  be  cultivated  and 
populated,  and  their  trade  must  from  gravitating  causes  tend  to  St.  Louis, 
and  for  hundreds  of  years  this  immense  country,  exceeding  the  limits  of 
the  Union  east  of  the  Mississippi,  must,  will  be  most  prolific  in  the  ele- 
ments of  its  advancement. 

One  more  paragraph,  and  we  have  closed.  Eighty-six  miles  from  St. 
Louis  are  inexhaustible  mines  of  iron,  found  in  all  the  varieties  of  that 
mineral,  suitable  for  every  manufacture,  and  so  abundant,  that  they  are 
capable  of  supplying  the  whole  globe  for  centuries.  The  lead  mines  are 
equally  as  numerous,  prolific,  and  convenient,  and  inexhaustible  coal-beds 
are  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  great  city.  These  are  the  great  ele- 
ments of  manufacture  which  exist  about  it,  which  are  fast  assuming  a 
practical  appearance,  and  which,  in  all  the  manufactures  of  which  lead 
and  iron  are  the  principal  constituents,  must  make  St.  Louis  the  greatest 
manufacturing  city  in  the  Union.  With  a  rich  back-country,  with  facilities 
of  building  to  any  extent,  her  natural  advantages,  her  rivers,  her  railroads, 
and  manufactories,  she  can  fear  no  rival,  and  must  always  be  the  em- 
porium of  trade  and  the  metropolis  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 


414:  THE    GRKAT    WEST 

The  following  is  a  corrected  list  of  delegates  to  the  convention,  which  we  have 
given,  that  there  may  be  a  record  of  their  enterprise  in  this  great  measure: 

M1SSOUBI. 

Andrew — B.  M.  Atherton. 

Benton — Jno.  M.  Staley,  R.  C.  Henry,  Peter  Everett. 

Boone— Dr.  W.  McClure,  P.  Crow,  M.  S.  Matthews,  R.  L.  Todd,  Dr.  H.  M.  Clarkson. 
TV.  F.  Switzler,  J.  W.  Harris,  Dr.  McCelland,  G.  S.  Turtle,  J.  K.  McCabe,  B.  S.  Grant. 
Dr  J.  B.  Thomas. 

Butler—  Dr.  Y.  M.  Capp. 

Caloway — John  Gibson,  Robert  Stevens,  A.  Masters. 

Cape  Girardeau — J.  "W.  Russell,  Jas.  McLean,  W.  H.  McLean,  John  Albert,  J.  H. 
Kimmel,  Charles  A.  Davis. 

Carroll — W.  W.  Compton  (invited  by  committee.) 

Chariton—  Sterling  Price,  J.  M.  Davis,  M.  R.  C.  Pulliam,  C.  J.  Terrill,  Charles  Der- 
rickson. 

Clay — Joel  Turnham,  Merit  Tillery,  Dr.  Ball,  John  Ringo,  David  Crossdall,  Henry 
Mail,  Dr.  Wood,  Coleman  Younger. 

Clinton — James  H.  Birch,  John  T.  Hughes. 

Colt— Governor  Austin,  A.  King,  T.  L.  Price,  W.  G.  Minor,  G.  C.  Medley,  P.  G. 
Glover,  A.  P  Richardson,  "W.  Vanover,  George  W.  Hough,  Charles  R.  Moller,  James 
L.  Minor,  Walter  King.  Enos  B.  Cordell,  Jno.  W.  Wells,  H.  C.  Ewing,  E.  L.  Ewing. 

Cooper — F.  W.  G.  Thomas,  John  Miller,  Benjamin  Tompkins,  David  Spharr.  Jolm  H. 
Price,  M.  W.  Mack,  E.  B.  McPherson,  John  Porter,  W.  H.  Trigg,  S.  B.  Hocker,  Lewis 
Bendell,  Dr.  A.  Kukleham,  Truman  Hickox. 

Crawford — J.  B.  Brinker,  D.  Singleton,  B.  Whittemburg,  William  James,  Dr.  "W.  C. 
Williams,  Jas.  Pease.  B.  Wishon. 

Franklin — C.  F.  Jeffries,  Charles  Jones,  C.  B.  Inge.  E.  Butler,  John  Q.  Dickenson, 
George  Hurst,  C.  R.  Jeffries,  Thomas  Mitchell,  W.  Music-k,  Jonathan  W.  Jones.  Field- 
ing Sappington,  B.  Wetherford,  Edward  F.  Brown,  T.  R.  Lewis.  J.  M.  Ming.  John  D. 
Stevenson,  James  Hallegaen,  Pierce  Butter,  James  R.  Roberts,  Green  Terry,  Martin 
Crow,  Francis  Baker,  William  North,  Samuel  Simons.  Samuel  Massey,  George  X. 
Nickols,  Henry  King,  J.  H.  Jameson,  F.  J.  North,  J.  W.  Reynolds,  W.  R.  Yanover, 
E.  W.  Murphy.  E  Arcullarius,  Lewis  Reyn,  John  F.  Mentz,  Andrew  Cochrane,  John 
R.  Brown,  David  Robertson,  C.  B.  Hinton,  Bishop  Sheldon,  S.  Rucker.  W.  C.  Builey, 
J.  B.  Brown. 

Gasconade — James  Arrote.  J.  0.  Sitton,  F.  Kempf,  Christoph  Moller,  John  B.  Har- 
rison, J.  LesselL 

Greene— G.  E.  Fisher,  P.  R.  Smith. 

Howard — Thomas  Jackson,  J.  B.  Clark,  A.  J.  Herndon,  A.  Cooper,  W.  D.  Swainey, 
W.  G.  Chiles,  J.  M.  Feagle,  T.  M.  Davis,  John  W.  Payne. 

Jackson — Major  Riekinau,  J.  R.  Palmer,  William  Singleton,  M.  Leonard,  T.  Slaugh- 
ter, Captain  J.  W.  Reid. 

Jefferson— William  S.  Howe,  Falkland  H.  Martin,  J.  Richardson,  T.  C.  Fletcher,  P. 
Pipkin. 

Lafayette— John  F.  Ryland,  T.  M.  Ewing.  William  Shields,  W.  S.  Field,  B.  B.  Wil- 
son, M.  W.  Flournoy,  W."  J.  Mackeshaw,  George  A.  Rise,  J.  J.  Burtis,  T.  F.  Atkinson. 
George  Young,  Foster  Smith,  S.  T.  Tyree,  Levi  Blackwell,  W.  A.  Harrison,  R.  M.  Aull. 

Lewis — H.  F.  Hughes. 

Lincoln — Francis  Parker,  G.  W.  Huston,  James  H.  Britton,  Dr.  Wilmot,  John  W. 
McKee,  B.  W.  Hammock,  Dr.  Bell,  R,  B.  Allen,  W.  Porter,  H.  A.  Fisher,  W.  B. 
Allen. 

Madison — J.  C.  Berryman,  Samuel  Calbert,  T.  L.  Sullivan,  D.  Arnott.  Caleb  Case, 
S.  R.  Guigon.  S.  Caruthers,  J.  Ronald,  B.  R.  Prewit,  H.  Preston,  B.  Nail,  James  Hick- 
man,  J.  B.  Grigsbey. 

Marion— T.  R.  Selmers,  C.  H.  Bower,  R.  W.  Moss,  John  Fry,  A.  B.  Webb,  J.  F. 
Buchanan,  T.  Miller,  Thomas  Yan  Swearinger,  R.  F.  Richmond,  Dr.  Faulkner,  B.  E. 
Ely,  Colonel  B.  Davis,  Dr.  A.  F.  Jeter,  Dr.  duff,  Z.  G.  Draper,  W.  M.  Cook,  E.  M. 
Moffett,  J.  P.  Ament. 

Mississippi — Hiram  Pearson,  Major  Savers.  

Moniteau — L.  L.  Woods.  P.  H.  Templeman,  J.  Parish,  A.  Lacey. 

New  Madrid— W.  S.  Mosely. 


AND    HEK   COMMERCIAL   METROPOLIS.  415 

Osage — Dr.  B.  Bruns,  William  Thermann. 

pike — J.  S.  Markley,  Edwin  Draper,  G.  B.  Crane,  E.  C.  Maury,  M.  Givens,  B.  F. 
Todd,  J.  C.  Jackson,  Jamea  0.  Broadliead,  Peter  Carr,  Dr.  W.  Gorin,  John  B.  Hender- 
son, James  Alexander,  John  S.  Markley,  Robert  Allison,  Dr.  William  C.  Herdon,  George 
Todd,  James  McCord,  T.  J.  C.  Fagg,  Julieu  C.  Jackson,  A.  J.  Landrum,  Dr.  J.  G.  Flagg, 
W.  Block. 

p/attt — John  E.  Pitt,  M.  Birney,  John  W.  Vineyard,  John  Holladay,  F.  Cockerill, 
Robert  Sriell,  John  B.  Dumay,  John  Doniphan,  J.  L.  Thompson,  James  McKowen. 

Polk — R.  K.  Acock,  J.  H.  Lindsay,  A.  J.  Hurnover. 

Halls — Richard  Boyer,  James  Buford,  W.  H.  Atchison,  James  H.  Lampton,  E.  W. 
Southworth. 

fiay — John  W.  Martin,  John  Hendley,  James  B.  Jener,  E.  A.  Lewis,  T.  L.  D.  W. 
Shaw,  Messrs  Morrison,  Gantt  and  Tibbs. 

Reynolds — W.  Edminson  (invited  by  committee.) 

St.  Charles— R.  B.  Frazier,  G.  C.  'Libley,  J.  J.  Johns,  B.  A.  Alderson,  Dr.  W.  P. 
Mcllhenny,  A.  Le  Faiore,  J.  Gallaher,  jr.,  C.  Rice.  J.  W.  Redmon,  C.  M.  Johnson, 
Robert  Frayser,  D.  K.  Pitman,  Dr.  J.  Tally,  C.  F.  Fant.  Captain  Campbell,  W.  C.  Lind- 
say, R.  F.  Kenner,  T.  A.  Barwise,  I.  A.  Dick,  W.  D.  Fielding,  X.  Bateman,  W.  M. 
Christy,  F.  Yosti,  S.  Keithly,  C.  Cole,  A.  T.  Weidle,  H.  Bangs,  H.  Pitman,  D.  Griffith, 
A.  Angert,  Henry  Hatcher,  J.  H.  Pitts,  L.  Overall,  L.  Gill,  Dr.  Diftendatter,  C.  F. 
Woodson,  G.  W.  Whitney,  A.  Luckett. 

St.  Glair— R.  D.  McCullok,  Mr.  Beatman,  Mr.  Bullock,  C.  P.  Bullock,  W.  Crow. 

St.  Francois — John  Cobb,  John  S.  Primm,  Milton  Poston,  J.  P.  Smith,  G.  Wood,  Dr. 
W.  C.  Ashburn,  John  J.  Perry. 

Saline — G.  C.  Bingham  (invited  by  the  committee). 

Wayne — H.  B.  Barnhart,  L.  H.  Flinn,  T.  C.  Cattron. 

Montgomery — J.  Baker,  B.  Bishop,  Rev.  R.  Bond,  Benjamin  Sharp. 

Clark— W.  Bishop,  T.  D.  Ford,  J.  N.  Lewis,  J.  M.  Charles,  F.  Bartlett,  J.  T.  John- 
son, W.  Bosworth,  A.  Maxwell. 

Cape  Girardeau — Joseph  W.  Russell,  Robert  Brown,  H.  H.  M.  Williams,  Isaiah  Poe, 
R.  A.  Martin,  William  E.  McGuire,  Thomas  B.  English,  J.  S.  Williams,  G.  F.  Daugh- 
erty,  William  W.  Horrell,  H.  S.  McFarland,  Charles  A.  Davis,  George  W.  Ferguson, 
S.  H.  Kimmell,  William  A.  McLane,  Simeon  English,  Aaron  Snider,  George  W.  Snider, 
Wiley  Stotler,  E.  West,  Wm.  R.  Dawson,  John  Albert,  James  McLean. 

Lackde — M.  C.  Hawkins,  B.  B  Harrison,  B.  Hooker. 

Washington — P.  Cole,  M.  Frissel,  William  Bryant,  John  Tuttle,  George  Creswell,  Mr. 
Trimble,  J.  D.  Johnson,  Israel  McGreed3r,  F.  Desloge,  S.  P.  Springer,  L.  W.  Harrison, 
John  Evans,  N.  Aubuchon,  J.  G.  Bryan,  C.  D.  Perryman,  John  Perry,  M.  Wingo. 

Scott — W.  P.  Darnes,  Dr.  A.  S.  Henderson,  Albion  Crow,  J.  C.  Myers,  Abram  Hun- 
ter, Colonel  F.  G.  Allen,  John  Moore,  John  W.  Oaks,  W.  Ewing. 

Warren — H.  Griswold,  F.  Morsey,  J.  S.  Jones,  H.  Pritchett,  J.  A.  Pulliam,  R.  Pitzer, 
C.  A.  Kuntze,  J.  Prummons,  T.  Coilurn,  J.  M.  McFadeu,  L.  Eversmann,  Dr.  A.  Powell, 
Dr.  Anderson,  T.  J.  Marshall,  J.  Preston,  W.  Smith,  A.  F.  Grass,  C.  T.  Archer.  R  L. 
Allen,  G.  C.  Barez,  J.  A.  Lack,  J.  B.  Davis.  M.  S.  Pringle,  R.  Houston.  G.  W.  Wright, 
J.  S.  Wyatt,  Dr.  H.  Wright,  N.  P.  Stephenson,  A.  Welch,  W.  H.  Harrison.  A.  Wyatt. 

St.  Cliarlts—y.  Bateman,  J.  W.  Redmon,  W.  S.  Overall,  J.  A.  Tally,  B.  R.  Pittz, 

C.  M.  Johnson,  James  Green,  James  Galaher,  William  J.  Mcllhaney.  F.  Yosti,  Samuel 
Keithly,  James  M.  Campbell,  J.  J.  Johnson,  W.  M.  Christy,  D.  K.  Pitman,  Charles  Faut, 
H.  Pitman,  J.  A.  Dick,  Thomas  Baruz,  A.  Angest,  G.  C.  Sibley,  P.  Gill,  Daniel  Griffith, 
H.  Bangs,  M.  N.  Dittendaffer,  B.  A.  Alderson,  A.  Lefevre,  Robert  Frasier,  G.  S.  Whit- 
ney, H.  Hatcher,  W.  D.  Fielding,  W.  C.  Lindsey,  A.  T.  Widle,  R.  F.  Kener,  C.  Cole, 
John  Orrick. 

ST.    LOUIS   DELEGATIOX. 

First  Ward—R.  S.  Blennerhassett,  David  B.  Hill,  Edward  Haren,  William  R.  Price, 

D.  D.  Mitchell. 

Second  Ward— George  R.  Taylor,  Archibald  Gamble,  Wilson  Primm,  John  G.  Shel- 
ton,  Mann  Butler,  jr. 

Third  Ward—  Edward  Bates,  Henry  S.  Geyer,  A.  L.  Mills,  J.  B.  Crockett,  Samuel 
Treat. 

Fourth  Ward— James  H.  Lucas,  William  Robb,  John  M.  Krum,  G.  B.  Allen,  John 
Howe. 


416  THE    GREAT    WEST 


Fifth  Ward — Alexander  Hamilton,  Trusten  Polk,  John  B.  Gibson,  Robert  Cathcart, 
Archibald  Carr. 

Sixth  Ward — Henry  Holmes,  T.  M.  Post,  J.  T.  Swearingen,  Isaac  H.  Sturgeon, 
Calvin  Case. 

County — John  K.  "Walker,  James  H.  Castello,  George  M.  Moore,  Frederick  Hyatt, 
William  F.  Berry,  Henry  Walton,  James  Sutton,  James  McDonald,  Hamilton  R. 
Gamble,  Alton  Long,  Judge  Higgins,  Henry  McCullough,  John  B.  Bogert,  Peregrine 
Tippett,  Zeno  Mat-key,  John  Sappington.  Peter  D.  Baradn,  William  Milburn,  II.  M. 
Shreve,  G.  W.  Goode,  Dr.  A.  Prout,  Hugh  Garland,  William  M.  McPherson,  Miron  Leslie, 
John  Barnes,  L.  A.  Lebaume,  R.  S.  Klliott,  Dr.  Penn,  F.  M.  Haight,  M.  Blair,  L.  M. 
Kennett,  Thomas  Allen,  Thomas  B.  Hudson,  M.  Tarver,  Henry  Kayser,  A.  B.  Cham- 
bers, R.  Phillips,  John  O'Fallon,  Edward  WaHi,  John  F.  Darby,  J.  M.  Field, 
G.  K.  Budd,  N.  R.  Cormany,  John  Loughborough,  Charles  G.  Ramsey,  John  B. 
Meyer,  John  Withnell,  George  L.  Lackland,  T.  T.  Gantt,  Thomas  D.  Yeats,  Samuel 
Gaty,  0.  D.  Filley,  A.  Ohlhausen,  V.  Staley,  James  G.  Barry-. 

St.  Genevieve — Lewis  V.  Bogy,  Auguste  St.  Gemme,  Felix  St.  Gemme,  F.  Yalle, 
Gustave  St.  James. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

William  J.  Totten,  N.  B.  Craig.  George  Darsie,  George  Ogden,  J.  K.  Moorhead,  T.  W. 
Roberts,  Charles  Naylor,  T.  J.  Bigham,  G.  E.  Warren,  James  May,  D.  Wilmarth,  James 
Wood,  W.  M.  Lyou,  W.  M.  Temple,  W.  McCandless,  R.  H.  Kerr,  William  Phillips, 
J.  H.  Reed. 

NEW   YORK. 

Hon.  Amherst  K.  Williams,  of  St.  Lawrence  county. 


Henry  Stoddard,  S.  Forrer,  J.  C.  Lowe,  H.  Yan  Tuyl,  John  W.  Van  Cleeve,  D.  W. 
Deshler,  W.  Whiteley,  J.  H.  Sullivan. 


Hon.  A.  T.  Ellis,  Samuel  Emison,  R.  G.  McClure,  H.  D.  Wheeler,  A.  Simpson,  W. 
Simpson,  A.  B.  McKee,  W.  G.  Foulks,  Abram  Smith,  Pierre  Richardville,  John  Emison, 
Samuel  Wise,  Charles  C.  Smith,  L.  L.  Boyer,  William  Miller,  William  Patterson,  Win. 
T.  Scott,  L.  L.  Watson,  Ben.  P.  Wheeler,  James  T.  Alexander,  and  W.  R.  McCord,  of 
Knox  county. 

Vigo  County — Hon.  R.  W.  Thompson,  James  T.  Moflatt,  T.  J.  Bourne,  Charles  Wood, 
W.  N.  Hamilton,  W.  B.  Warren,  W.  W.  Williams,  Jacob  H.  Hagar,  Charles  Cruft, 
W.  K.  Edwards. 


Dearborn  County — Servetus  Tufts. 
Marion  County — Hon.  Oliver  H.  Smith. 
Tippecanoe  County — Hon.  Albert  S.  White. 


Sullivan  County — John  H.  O'Boyle. 
Franklin  County — Rufus  Raymond. 
Greene  County — R.  H.  Rousseau. 


KENTUCKY. 


Paducah — L.  M.  Flournoy,  Capt.  J.F.Harris. 
Henderson  County — Henry  J.  Eastin. 
Louisville— T.  P.  Shaffner,  T.  C.  McClure. 


Jersey  City — G.  Hulme. 

Scott  County — B.  Duke, Capt.  J.  Harper. 

Frankfort— A.  S.  Mitchell. 


ILLINOIS. 

Cook  County — S.  A.  Douglass,  P.  Maxwell,  Thomas  A.  Stewart,  H.  A.  Clark,  S.  A. 
Lowe,  Thomas  Hoyne,  James  Pollock,  M.  Wright,  William  M.  Hall,  John  R.  Livings- 
ton, Governor  Wells,  Dr.  Eagan,  Mr.  Doyle. 

Randolph— J.  P.  0 wings,  D.  Reily,  Jacob  Feaman,  S.  S.  Frain,  Dr  J.  S.  Curie,  R.  E. 
Morrison,  G.  Morrison. 

Morgan — J  Gordon,  W.  Dean. 

Schuykr—G.  Terry. 

Scott  County — C.  C.  Perry,  E.  Bogardus.  Thomas  Hollowbush,  James  Williams. 

Morgan  County — Judge  Dalton,  Rev.  F.  Stevenson,  VV.  Stevenson,  W.  N.  Ross,  D. 
Huey,  John  W.  Evans. 

Will  County— W.  E.  Little,  R.  S.  Higgins. 


AND   HER    COMMERCIAL    METROPOLIS.  417 

Clark  County — J.  K.  Greenough,  Stephen  Archer,  A.  Shaw,  William  Montgomery, 
H.  P.  H.  Brownell  James  Welsh. 

Pike  County— J.  S.  Roberts,  J.  M.  Parker,  W.  Ross,  B.  F.  Spencer,  J.  J.  Ojllard, 
P.  N.  0.  Thompson,  C.  D.  Higbee,  R.  E.  Hicks,  Alexis  Mudd,  D.  B.  Bush,  John 
Shasted,  A.  Starrow,  K.  D.  Whitney,  G.  C.  Bushy,  F.  Jennings,  Mont  Blair,  Thomas 
Digby,  J.  Klein,  jr.,  M.  Edwards.  John  Syster,  Henry  T.  Mudd.  John  Tooley,  M.  Ross. 

Kicldand  County — John  Allen,  F.  Bruce,  A.  H.  Baird,  G.  F.  Powers,  Henry  Barney, 
Samuel  St.  John,  H.  Barney,  J.  Tolliver,  J.  M.  Rank,  Mclntyre  Ryan,  C.  Clubb,  H.  L. 
Carson,  J.  May,  Perry  Heaston,  John  Hunt,  N.  D.  Jay,  A.  0.  Burford,  M.  C.  McClain, 
Andrew  Lowry,  James  Starr,  Albert  Burdon,  G.  Hurtsell,  John  Bruer,  J.  Moore. 

Fulton  County — R.  R.  McDowell,  A.  C.  Thompson,  J.  L.  Sharpe,  J.  Kuykendall, 
Thomas  Maples,  S.  H.Pitkin,  J.  G.  Davidson,  Amos  Smith,  Lyman  Moore,  Frank  Foster, 
F.  J.  Porter,  Thomas  Risley,  J.  G.  Davidson. 

Madison  County — Hon.  L.  Trumbull,  Hon.  N.  Pope,  Hon.  R.  Smith,  Judge  Bailhache, 
M.  G.  Atwood,  J.  K.  Starr,  B.  F.  Snyder,  Dr.  L.  S.  Metcalf,  J.  C.  Ketcham,  Charles 
Skillman,  Dr.  B.  K.  Hart,  S.  Y.  McMasters,  T.  M.  Hope,  C.  Stiggleman,  E.  Keating, 
C.  W.  Hunter,  S.  A.  Buckmaster,  J.  R.  Thomas,  0.  M.  Adams,  E.  L.  Dimmock,  D.  A. 
Spaulding,  L.  Kellenberger,  James  Semple,  B.  F.  Long,  A.  Breath,  H.  W.  Wood,  C.  A. 
Murray,  H.  Wood,  R.  Ferguson,  John  Ash.  L.  B.  Parson,  James  Stine,  William  Martin, 
H.  B.  Bowman,  George  T.  Brown.  S.  F.  Choat,  H.  W.  Billings,  J.  L.  Pierce,  J.  W. 
Schweppe,  0.  Brown,  N.  Johnson,  Dr.  C.  Smith,  T.  P.  Woodridge,  W.  T.  Miller,  R, 
Flagg,  I.  Scarntt,  C.  K.  Blood,  Charles  Trumbull,  L.  Wosonor,  H.  P.  Hulbert,  F.  Gid- 
dings,  John  Quigley,  A.  Tuffts,  S.  B.  Caats,  P.  Tuffts,  J.  G.  Lamb,  J.  J.  Mitchell,  S. 
Wise,  H.  L.  Baker,  A.  S.  Barney,  S.  Wait,  John  Allison,  N.  D.  Sweeney,  Dr.  G.  T. 
Allen,  A.  Judd,  C.  Blakeman,  J.  Spies,  A.  L.  Saunders,  J.  Wilson,  B.  C.  Stanton,  J.  W. 
Coventry,  J.  Thornburgh,  D.  Morrell.  S.  Carlton,  J.  \V.  Jeffries,  R.  Parker,  J.  Wilson, 
J.  Ferguson,  S.  H.  Mudge,  William  McKean,  A.  G.  Neal,  W.  B.  Graham,  N.  Enos,  H. 
Reirnacks,  L.  B.  Gorman,  F.  M.  Lytle,  George  Churchill,  John  Bradey,  John  Wood,  J  S. 
Dewey,  J.  R.  Swain.  Thomas  Judy,  J.  A.  Barnsback,  Thomas  Smith,  James  Brown,  W. 
Jarvis,  M.  Jilton,  J.  Taylor,  W.  F.  Provines,  J.  C.  Edwards,  A.  C.  Rondafett,  J.  Padon, 
Dr.  J.  Gates,  J.  K.  McMahon,  W.  H.  Srniley,  Joseph  Shatter. 

Alton,  Madison  County — C.  H.  Fox,  L.  J.  Clawson,  E.  D.  Topping. 

Pike  County — William  P.  Harpole,  Alexis  Mudd,  John  S.  Ball. 

Monroe  County — J.  B.  Needles,  W.  C.  Starkie,  E.  Omelvany,  Thomas  Quick,  C. 
Crocker,  H.  Holcomb,  J.  Morrison,  E.  P.  Rogers,  J.  A.  Reid,  T.  Winstanly,  T.  Single- 
ton, A.  Duifee,  C.  Henckler,  T.  Henckler,  J.  A.  Gilley,  Bradley  Rust,  Lewis  James,  J. 

A.  Talbott.  C.  H.  Priesker,  George  Trick,  J.  Saurs,  H.   Null,  P.  Wehrheim,  Henry 
Lower,  Henry  Prusher. 

White  County — William  H.  Wilson. 

St.  Clair  County — P.  K.  Fleming,  J.  Winstanly.  D.  Hopkins,  E.  Abend,  William 
Snyder,  Julius  Wright,  M.  Phelps,  W.  Singleton,  J.  Knoble,  Samuel  Thrift,  Benjamin 
J.  Smith,  W.  Westield,  G.  M.  Bowles,  L.  D.  Cabana,  C.  Alexander,  J.  M.  Hughes, 
George  C.  Hart. 

Clay  County — Arthur  McCanly. 

From  the  State  at  Large — J.  P.  Cooper,  of  Clarke ;  J.  McDonald,  Fayette ;  C.  F. 
Keener,  Scott;  A.  H.  Grass,  Lawrence;  Z.  Casey,  Jefferson;  R.  Yates,  Morgan;  W. 

B.  Warren,  do.;  H.  T.  Pace,  Jefferson;  W.  B.  Scates,  do.;  A.  Eads,  J.  Davies. 
Marion  County — Uriel  Mills,  J.  S.  Martin,  G.  W.  Haynie,  William  <  'reen,  G.  W.  Pace, 

T.  B.  Lester,  H.  F.  Hamlin,  B.  F.  Marshall,  Thomas  Easton,  Emory  Wooter. 

Bond  County — Benjamin  Johnson,  N.  Levertier,  P.  W.  Lamkin,  W.  Watkins,  G. 
Stevenson,  William  S.  Wait,  A.  Berrie,  J.  M.  Gilmore.  John  Leverton,  F.  Richey,  J. 
Gilmore,  A.  Bowman,  James  McGehey,  Isaac  Roark,  Lemuel  Plant. 

McDonough  County — H.  Agers,  J.  E.  Jackson,  A.  N.  Ford. 

Jersey  County — W.  Casey,  H.  0.  Goodrich,  J.  Duncan,  Z.  H.  Adams,  C.  A.  Kuapp, 
Dr.  Veitch,  R.  C.  Baugh,  Dr.  J.  0.  Hamilton. 

Cass  County — H.  E.  Dammer,  R.  S.  Thomas,  E.  R.  Saunders,  W.  A.  Turpin. 

Lafayette  County — A..  Dikeman,  William  C.  Greeuup,  E.  Griffith,  N.  M.  McCurdy, 
H.  C  Waterman,  R.  A.  Phillips. 

Lawrence  County— ft.  T.  Ryan,  S.  H.  Clubb,  H.  Seed,  T.  J.  McDonell,  E.  D.  Em- 
mons,  J.  Thompson,  C.  H.  Naff,  C.  Durkee,  N.  M.  Keesemar,  T.  Spencer,  E.  C.  Banks, 
N.  Norton,  A.  J.  Warner,  Alfred  Grass,  jr.,  F.  Coat,  Y.  B.  Buchanan. 


418  THE    GREAT   WEST 


Cumberland  County — A.  J.  Freeman,  William  Freeman,  Reuben  Stinson,  John 
Shook,  Stephen  Waite. 

Crawford  County — G.  "W.  Smith,  A.  Norsworthy,  J.  B.  Trimble,  "William  Barber,  jr., 

A.  G.  Markley,  J.  W.  Wilson,  J.  D.  Smith. 

Effingham  County — H.  L.  Smith,  Henry,  Fisher. 

Rock  Island  County— W.  Brackett,  P.  A.  Whittaker,  J.  K.  Corker,  A.  K.  Phileo, 
Jacob  Norris. 

Warren  County — J.  W.  Davidson,  John  Brown. 

Adams — J.  P.  Erskine,  J.  B.  Young,  C.  A.  Savage,  J.  W.  Hallowbush,  P.  Cleve- 
land, J.  H.  Luce,  C.  Howland,  T .  Redmond,  J.  B.  Morgan,  H.  Asbury,  J.  C.  Woodruff, 
Andrew  Wood,  S.  P.  Church,  J.  D.  Moore,  S.  B.  Hoffman,  G-.  Holmes,  J.  H.  Beasy, 

B.  Collins. 

Clinton— n.  S.  Bond.  M.  Stiles. 
Colts — J.  D.  Van  Deren. 

IOWA. 

Lee  County — John  A.  Graham,  Colonel  Samuel  R.  Curtis,  D.  W.  Kilbourne,  General 
Y.  P.  Van  Antwerp,  G.  Wells,  J.  W.  Rankin,  W.  G.  Anderson,  L.  E.  H.  Houghton. 
Samuel  Walker,  H.  H.  Beldin,  Robert  Pope,  G.  Lewis,  F.  Wright,  P.  D.  Foster,  T.  G. 
Williams,  J.  Webster,  James  H.  Cowles. 

Des  Moines — H.  W.  Starr,  J.  G.  Edwards,  J.  F.  Fletcher,  Dr.  Graham,  Isaac  Baggs, 
T.  S.  Cordis,  P.  Mertz,  W.  B.  Reemey,  James  Clark,  Governor  J.  Clarke,  W.  Walker,  H. 
Moore,  B.  C.  Armstrong,  S.  S.  Runson,  J.  E.  Darst,  J.  H.  Hughes,  R.  Pope. 
Davis— J.  B.  Peach.  I          Polk— J.  Gilkey. 

Madison — W.  Compton.  Henry — Hon.  W.  Thompson. 

WapeUo— J.  Williams,  H.  B.  Hendershot,  T.  J.  Devin. 

Jefferson— B.  Henk,  R.  Erwin,  Colonel  W.  H.  Walner,  W.  H.  Lyons. 

Jones — Joseph  A.  Hunt,  G.  H.  Walworth. 

Van  Buren—D.  Smith,  A.  McDonald,  S.  Millington. 

Dee — A.  Hamlin,  L.  E.  Johnson,  W.  L.  McGavie,  J.  W.  Taylor,  J.  L.  Curtiss,  T. 
Fitzpalriek,  L.  R.  Reeves,  E.  Kilbourne,  Dr.  McMnrtry,  C.  Stewart. 

Muscatine — Judge  J.  Williams,  Pliny  Fay,  N.  M.  McCormack,  Adam  Ogilvie,  Joseph 
A.  Green,  J.  Butler,  Stephen  Nye,  Legrand  Morehouse. 

Dubuque — H.  C.  Fellows,  Peter  Waples. 

Johnson — H.  D.  Downy,  G.  D.  Farmer,  E.  Morris,  Dr.  H.  Murry. 

WISCONSIN. 

Lafayette  County — Edward  Vaughn,  William  M.  Boudoin,  Charles  Bracken. 
Dane  County — A.  R.  Murray. 

MICHIGAN. 
Detroit— John  Biddle. 

LOUISIANA. 

New  Orleans — C.  C.  Lathrop. 

» 

TENNESSEE. 

Shelby  County — G.  W.  Lincoln,  E.  Hickman,  S.  Fance,  J.  C.  Carroll. 
Memphis— A.  S.  Caldwell,  W.  T.  Avery. 


PETEE    LINDELL,    ESQ. 

(p.  419.) 

ENUKAVED   EXPRESSLY   FOR  THIS   WORK   FROM   A   PHOTOGRAPH    BY   BROWN. 


PETER   LINDELL. 

PETER  LINDELL  was  born  March  24,  1776,  in  Worcester  county,  Mary- 
land. He  is  of  English  origin  ;  for  his  grandfather  who  bore  the  same 
name,  having  obtained  a  grant  of  land  located  in  Maryland,  imigrated  to 
the  United  States,  and,  locating  himself  on  his  grant,  was  many  years  en- 
gaged in  rendering  the  soil  suitable  for  agricultural  purposes.  He  lived 
to  an  advanced  age ;  and  one  of  his  sons,  John  Lindell,  came  by  descent 
in  possession  of  this  tract  of  land,  and  was  looked  upon  as  the  most  skil- 
ful farmer  in  that  portion  of  the  country.  He  was  the  fattier  of  the 
subject  of  this  memoir,  and  raised  a  large  family  of  children.  He  died  at 
the  advanced  age  of  seventy-six. 

Peter  Lindell  spent — like  most  others  who  lived  at  that  early  time,  and 
whose  parents  had  good  farms — his  early  years  in  work  upon  the  farm. 
He  went  to  school,  to  be  sure ;  but  the  regular  schoolmaster  was  not  abroad 
in  that  portion  of  the  country,  and  the  people  would  often  induce  some 
itinerant  clock  peddler  from  Yankeedom,  to  forego  his  usual  vocation,  and 
adopt  that  of  the  pedagogue.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  when  schoolmas- 
ters were  thus  chosen,  that  the  pupils  would  remain  ignorant  of  the  fun- 
damental principles  of  their  language.  Between  going  to  schools  of  this 
cast  and  working  upon  the  farm  of  his  father,  he  reached  the  age  of 
twenty-one,  and  possessing  a  large  share  of  self-reliance,  he  immediately 
commenced  business  for  himself.  He  kept  a  little  store  in  the  country, 
believing  that  a  commercial  life,  and  that  too  with  less  of  servitude,  led 
more  directly  to  affluence  than  the  slow  profits  which  had  then  to  satisfy 
the  industrious  farmer.  He  remained  four  years  engaged  with  his  store, 
and  seeing  that  the  vast  tide  of  emigration  was  flowing  westward,  he  de- 
termined to  follow  the  current,  although  his  first  efforts  had  been  attended 
with  vast  success.  He  was  not  satisfied,  for  he  did  not  see  his  locality 
filling  up  with  a  vigorous  growth  of  new  settlers,  which  alone  could  bring 
wealth  to  the  neighborhood,  and  insure  a  fortune  to  those  engaged  in 
commercial  pursuits.  Drawing  these  logical  conclusions,  he  wound  up 
his  business  in  Maryland,  and  started  for  the  West. 

Some  time  in  18U8,  Peter  Lindell  stopped  at  Pittsburgh,  the  only  town 
west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  that  offered,  at  that  time,  any  induce- 
ments for  commercial  enterprise.  There  he  commenced  the  life  of  an  itin- 
erant merchant,  trading  on  a  boat  at  the  various  localities  between  that 
place  and  Louisville.  Laying  in  an  assortment  of  goods  suitable  to  the 
wants  of  the  people  at  the  different  locations  at  which  he  traded,  he  was 
soon  doing  a  most  thriving  business.  He  received  no  money  for  his 
goods,  that  article  in  the  western  wilds  being  seldom  seen,  but  he  received 
in  exchange,  furs,  peltries,  hemp,  and  tobacco,  with  which  he  could  pur- 
chase a  new  supply  of  merchandise,  or  sell  for  money,  at  his  option. 


4:22  PETER  LINDELL. 


In  two  years,  finding  that  his  business  throve,  even  beyond  his  most 
sanguine  expectations,  Peter  Lindell  sent  for  John  Lindell,  one  of  his 
brothers,  that  he  might  assist  him  in  his  labors,  and  whom  he  could  in- 
struct in  a  pursuit  that  had  already  proved  so  profitable.  In  due  timo, 
John  arrived,  and  he  was  initiated  in  all  the  mysteries  of  a  trader's  life 
at  that  period,  and  the  business  soon  reached  a  greater  magnitude  than 
ever,  and  yielded  larger  returns.  The  name  of  Lindell  was  well  known 
on  the  Ohio  River,  and  he  was  anxiously  looked  for  by  the  pioneers  who 
inhabited  its  rich  banks  for  the  purposes  of  trade. 

After  John  had  been  with  him  some  time — and  fortune  still  continu- 
ing to  smile  upon  his  eft'orts  — he  sent  for  another  brother  by  the  name  of 
Jesse,  that  he  too  might  become  a  reaper  in  a  field  which  yielded  so 
plentiful  a  harvest.  He  extended  his  business  with  the  assistance  of  his 
brothers,  and  in  his  trading  voyages,  hearing  of  the  natural  advantages 
of  St.  Louis,  he  determined  to  quit  the  life  of  a  general  trader  on  the 
river,  and  settle  himself  as  a  merchant  in  a  town,  whose  brilliant  prospects 
for  the  future,  promised  so  much  success  to  the  early  citizen  who  mado 
judicious  investments.  "  In  1811  he  came  to  St.  Louis,  and  commenced 
keeping  store  on  Main  street. 

The  houses  at  that  period,  with  but  few  exceptions,  were  little  log  cabins, 
the  interstices  being  filled  with  lime  and  plastered  within,  making  a  warm 
but  small  and  inconvenient  dwelling;  and  Peter  Lindell,  a  little  while 
after  his  advent,  astonished  the  inhabitants  by  building  three  brick  houses, 
which,  for  a  little  while,  were  the  wonder  of  the  place,  and  the  era  of  brick 
building  in  St.  Louis.  His  business  in  the  new  and  growing  town,  grew 
and  increased  yearly ;  and  he  was  soon  known  as  one  of  the  most  enter- 
prising merchants  of  the  place. 

At  that  early  day,  not  even  a  steamboat  had  floated  on  the  "  Father  of 
Waters,"  and  the  merchant  when  he  went  East  to  purchase  goods,  had  to 
perform  the  fatiguing  journey  of  more  than  a  thousand  miles  on  horse- 
back. In  one  of  these  expeditions,  an  event  occurred  which  had  nearly 
a  tragical  termination  ;  and  as  it  serves  to  illustrate  the  character  of  those 
early  times,  and  gives  an  insight  into  the  nature  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  we  will  relate  it.  While  journeying  to  one  of  the  Eastern  cities, 
Peter  Lindell  was  accompanied  by  the  late  John  Collier,  and  one  night 
they  stopped  at  a  little  cabin  at  Shawneetown,  Illinois.  There  were  sev- 
eral men  who  were  in  the  house,  and  among  them  was  a  desperado,  who 
pursued  the  vagabond  life  of  hunting  for  a  subsistence.  When  he  was  not 
employed  in  the  chase,  he1  was  engaged  in  cursing,  swearing,  and  fighting. 
Mr.  Collier  had  had  the  misfortune  to  offend  this  fellow,  and  when  he  and 
Mr.  Lindell  entered  the  door,  this  man  was  seated  in  the  cabin.  Imme- 
diately that  his  eyes  glanced  upon  Mr.  Collier,  they  glared  like  those 
of  a  basilisk,  and  a  dark  scowl  darkened  his  features,  giving  to  them  the 
expression  of  a  demon.  He  told  Mr.  Collier  with  a  horrid  oath,  that  he 
would  kill  him,  and  sallied  from  the  cabin  to  procure  a  gun,  that  he 
might  put  in  execution  his  murderous  purpose. 

At  that  time,  Peter  Lindell  was  in  the  prime  of  a  glorious  manhood, 
with  the  strength  of  a  buffalo,  and  the  spirit  to  use  it.  He  well  knew 
the  fiendish  character  of  the  ruffian,  and  he  followed  him  from  the  cabin. 
When  at  a  little  distance,  he  upbraided  him  for  his  murderous  purpose, 
and  told  him  then  and  there  to  defend  himself.  He  then  commenced 


PETER   LINDELL.  423 


pouring  upon  him  blows  with  the  force  of  a  sledge-hammer,  and  in  less  than 
two  minutes  the  fellow  was  hors  de  combat,  and  pounded  into  a  jelly. 
This  drubbing  operation  completely  satisfied  him,  and  he  no  more  threat- 
ened vengeance  against  Mr.  Collier. 

After  becoming  a  resident  of  St.  Louis,  Mr.  Lindell,  in  conjunction 
with  his  commercial  business,  became  extensively  engaged  in  the  pur- 
chase of  landed  estate,  which  at  that  time  brought  but  a  nominal  price  in 
comparison  to  its  present  value.  He  bought  land  and  held  it,  and  it  was  in 
consequence  of  not  again  selling  it,  that  he  is  so  extensive  an  owner  in 
real  estate  at  the  present  time.  By  that  magical  power  with  which  some 
men  appear  to  be  invested,  whatever  he  has  touched  has  turned  to  money ; 
and  so  fortunate  has  he  been  in  his  efforts  to  amass  a  fortune,  that  in  1826 
he  threw  up  his  commercial  pursuits,  which  had  been  his  leading  business. 
Since  that  time  he  has  been  out  of  the  pale  of  the  busy,  bustling  world, 
and  dedicated  himself  to  preserving  that  fortune  which  by  industry  he 
had  garnered,  when  his  body  and  spirit  rejoiced  in  the  exuberance  incident 
to  youth.  The  present  generation  know  but  little  of  him  ;  for  nearly  all 
who  lived  when  he  made  a  part  of  the  active  sphere  of  life,  and  helped  to 
guide  and  direct  its  business  currents,  have  paid  the  debt  of  nature,  and 
cannot  speak  of  the  events  with  which  Peter  Lindell  has  been  connected. 

From  great  wealth,  which  receives  almost  the  universal  homage  of  man- 
kind, the  name  of  Peter  Lindell  is  almost  as  well  known  in  the  city  of 
St.  Louis  as  that  of  the  great  river  which  sweeps  by  its  levee ;  but  of  his 
habits,  and  the  natural  gush  of  feeling  which  form  his  character  and  influ- 
ence his  actions,  they  know  but  little.  They  see  his  property  in  every 
part  of  the  broad  circumference  of  the  Mound  City ;  but  of  the  owner, 
they  cannot  speak.  We  will  relate  an  anecdote  told  us  by  one  whom 
time  has  blanched,  but  not  overthrown  ;  who  knew  him  before  his  frame 
was  weakened,  and  when  his  whole  time  was  devoted  to  business.  The 
narrative  is  thus : 

"  There  was  a  gentleman,"  says  this  narrator,  "  who  during  a  money 
pressure  was  driven  to  great  straits,  and  applied  to  me  for  counsel  in  his 
exigence.  He  had  abundance  of  good  paper  in  his  possession,  more  than 
ten  times  the  sum  that  was  causing  his  disquietude,  which  was  a  note  of 
some  thousands  of  dollars  held  by  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri, 
which  would  be  due  in  a  few  days.  Should  he  not  be  able  to  take  up  the 
note,  his  credit  would  be  gone  forever,  and  all  his  bright  prospects  for  the 
future  would  be  a  wreck.  I  knew  but  one  man  who  could  furnish  the 
amount  he  required,  and,  moved  by  his  distress,  I  volunteered  my  services, 
as  I  was  intimate  with  the  person  that  I  knew  had  always  money  by  him. 
I  took  from  his  papers  a  note  for  five  thousand  dollars,  drawn  and  endor- 
sed by  unexceptionable  parties,  to  Peter  Lindell,  and  told  him  the  cir- 
cumstances that  induced  me  to  call  upon  him.  Mr.  Lindell  replied  that 
he  had  the  money  but  it  was  designed  for  another  purpose ;  but  on  my 
again  mentioning  that  without  his  interposition  an  honorable  man  would 
be  effectually  ruined,  he  drew  me  a  check  for  the  full  amount,  and  when 
I  signified  my  surprise,  he  told  me,  under  no  circumstances  could  he  take 
from  any  individual  more  than  ten  per  cent,  interest.  This  is  but  ono 
out  of  many  instances,"  continued  the  gentleman  who  related  to  me  the 
anecdote,  '"  which  I  could  point  out,  in  which  Peter  Lindell  has  acted  in 
the  same  manner." 


424  PETER   LINDELL. 


We  have  seen  how  well  Peter  Lindell  has  acted  the  part  of  a  relative, 
when  he  sent  for  two  of  his  brothers,  that  they  might  share  with  him  the 
success  which  his  judgment  and  industry  had  brought  about;  and  when 
they  were  taken  from  their  families  by  death,  he  at  once  assumed  the  du- 
ties of  a  father  and  protector.  To  him  belongs  the  honor  of  starting  the 
first  packet  to  Pittsburgh  ;  he  was  one  of  the  corporators  and  directors  of 
the  old  Missouri  Insurance  Company  ;  and  was  one  of  the  directors  of  the 
Branch  Bank  of  the  United  States.  He  is  the  largest  stockholder  in  the 
magnificent  hotel  known  as  the  "Lindell  Hotel,"  and  his  property  is 
valued  at  many  millions. 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL    DAVID    M.     FROST. 

ip.  425.) 

ENGRAVRD  EXPRESSLY  FOB  THIS  WORK   FROM  A  PHOTOGRAPH   BY  BROWN. 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL  DANIEL  MARSH  FROST, 

THE  subject  of  this  memoir  was  a  native  of  Schenectady  county,  state 
of  New  York,  and  was  born  August  9th,  1823.  His  ancestors  came  to 
this  country,  from  England,  during  its  early  settlement,  and  during  the 
Revolutionary  War  one  of  his  grandfathers  fought  faithfully  under  the 
banner  of  his  country. 

The  father  of  General  Frost  was  a  man  of  fine  attainments ;  he  was 
appointed  surveyor  and  civil  engineer  in  the  state  of  New  York,  and 
made  the  first  complete  survey,  soundings,  and  map  of  Hudson  City. 
He  also  commanded  a  volunteer  company  in  the  last  war  against 
England. 

General  Frost,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  had  all  the  advantages  of  early 
education,  until,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  entered  the  Military  Academy 
at  West  Point,  and  graduated  with  high  honors  at  that  celebrated 
institution  in  1844.  He  was  attached  to  the  1st  regiment  of  artillery, 
and,  after  some  service  at  various  forts,  he  was  sent  to  Florida.  Becom- 
ing tired  of  seaboard  garrison  life,  he  was  transferred  to  the  regiment  of 
mounted  riflemen  in  1846,  and  in  the  same  year  went  to  Mexico,  under 
General  Scott,  fighting  in  all  the  battles  in  which  his  illustrious  com- 
mander was  engaged,  until  the  "star-spangled  banner"  floated  over  the 
battlements  of  Mexico. 

General  Frost,  in  the  many  battle-fields  in  which  he  was  engaged, 
reaped  plentifully  of  military  laurels,  and  at  the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo 
was  especially  complimented  by  his  commander-in-chief.  At  the  decla- 
ration of  peace,  he  returned  to  Missouri,  and  was  soon  after  ordered  across 
the  Plains  to  Oregon  City.  The  following  year  he  returned  to  St.  Louis, 
where  he  was  married  to  the  daughter  of  the  late  Major  Graham,  who  was 
at  one  time  one  of  the  aids  of  General  Harrison. 

The  judgment  and  military  abilities  of  General  Frost  have  always  been 
held  in  the  highest  estimation  by  his  superior  officers,  and  he  was  selected 
by  the  secretary  of  war,  as  an  efficient  officer  to  send  to  Europe,  to 
gather  information  concerning  cavalry  drill  and  discipline.  After  return- 
ing from  Europe,  in  1852,  he  joined  his  regiment  in  Texas,  and  shortly 
after,  was  wounded  in  an  engagement  with  the  Indians.  In  1853,  he 
returned  to  St.  Louis,  and  resigned  his  commission,  but  was  chosen  the 
commander  of  the  Washington  Guards,  which  he  held  for  five  years.  In 
1854,  he  was  elected  to  the  state  Senate,  and  served  in  that  body  till 
1858,  at  the  expiration  of  which  he  was  elected  brigadier-general  and 
commander  of  the  first  military  district  of  Missouri. 

General  Frost  is  scarcely  in  the  summer  of  manhood,  and,  with  youth, 
fame,  position,  and  character,  can  hope  for  all  things  that  can  gratify  an 
honorable  ambition. 


MARINUS    WILLETT    WARNE. 

MARINUS  WILLETT  WARNE  was  born  at  New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey, 
December  7th,  1810.  His  father  was  a  respectable  merchant,  engaged  in 
the  hardware  trade,  and  died  insolvent,  owing  to  the  financial  crisis  which 
took  place  after  the  war  of  1812,  when  the  subject  of  this  memoir  was 
only  ten  years  of  age.  Young  Warne,  after  the  death  of  his  father,  re- 
ceived no  further  education,  but  was  forced  to  do  something  for  his  own 
livelihood.  At  the  age  of  twelve  years,  he  engaged  himself  to  the  succes- 
sor of  his  father's  business,  with  whom  he  remained  nine  years,  during 
that  time  acquiring  a  complete  knowledge  of  the  hardware  and  cedar- 
ware  business 

Marinus  Willett  Warne,  on  arriving  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  deter- 
mined on  removing  to  New  York  city,  where,  if  the  field  of  success  was 
more  difficult,  it  offered  an  ampler  harvest  to  the  votary  of  ambition. 
He  accordingly  removed  to  the  great  metropolis,  and  entered  the  large 
establishment  kept  by  William  Galloway  &  Company,  with  whom  he  re- 
mained two  years.  Then,  feeling  anxious  to  carry  on  business  on  his 
own  account,  untrammelled  by  any  superior  power,  he  commenced  the 
manufacture  of  cedar-ware  on  a  most  extensive  scale,  with  which  he  in  a 
short  time  connected  the  house-furnishing  business. 

At  this  time  Mr.  Warne  appeared  to  be  one  of  the  favorites  of  fortune. 
Wealth  poured  upon  him  from  a  thousand  avenues,  and  he  conducted 
the  largest  business  of  the  kind  in  the  great  empire  city ;  but  clouds 
were  lowering  around  him  which  he  did  not  see,  and  he  soon  experienced 
how  uncertain  is  the  stability  of  sublunary  things.  His  friendly  feelings 
had  led  him  to  indorse  notes  to  a  considerable  amount,  and  a  little  pres- 
sure taking  place  in  the  money  market,  the  notes  which  he  indorsed  were 
thrown  on  his  hands  for  liquidation,  and  for  such  an  amount  that  his  im- 
mense business  received  a  sudden  check,  and  he  was  forced  to  wind  up 
his  concern. 

Thus  suddenly  stripped  of  the  fortune  which  he  had  acquired  during 
a  long  term  of  continued  labor  and  economy,  Mr.  \Varne,  though  he  felt 
sorely  his  misfortune,  did  not  yield  to  despondency  and  useless  com- 
plaint. He  felt  that  the  same  continued  perseverance,  the  same  business 
qualifications  put  in  force,  would  again  achieve  an  independence.  He 
resolved,  then,  to  commence  his  fortune'in  the  far  West,  the  land  that  was 
open  to  adventurous  ambition,  and  started  for  St.  Louis.  WThen  he  ar- 
rived in  the  city  of  his  destination,  he  had  neither  friends  nor  money. 
He  had  only  that  self-reliance  which  formed  one  of  the  chief  elements 
of  his  character,  and  that  energy  which  was  ready  to  encounter  and  over- 
come every  opposing  obstacle.  On  arriving  at  St.  Louis,  he  commenced 
to  work  at  his  trade,  and,  after  some  time,  having  amassed  a  little  money, 
he  engaged  with  Henry  L.  Joy  in  the  manufacture  of  wooden-ware,  at 
Quincy,  Illinois,  by  machinery,  at  the  same  time  carrying  on  a  business  in 
St.  Louis.  The  factory  at  Quincy  did  a  tremendous  business,  and  the 
profits  of  the  concern  were  considerable. 


M.     W.     WARNE,    ESQ. 

(p.  429.) 

ENGRAVED   EXPRESSLY  TOR  THIS   WORK  FROM  A  PHOTOGRAPH   BY    BROWN. 


MAEINUS    WILLETT    WARNE.  431 

The  -horizon  of  the  future  again  became  bright,  and  the  hopes  of  Mr. 
Warne  again  became  flowering,  but  only  again  to  be  blighted.  The  fac- 
tory at  Quincv  took  fire  by  some  accident,  and  was  reduced  to  ashes. 
There  was  no  insurance,  and  the  loss  was  total.  This  was  a  heavy  blow 
upon  his  prospects  and  business,  but  he  bestowed  still  closer  attention  on 
his  concern  in  St.  Louis,  which  was  by  this  time  in  a  flourishing  condi- 
tion;  but,  as  if  misfortune  was  bent  on  testing,  to  the  utmost  his  powers 
of  mental,  moral,  and  physical  endurance,  the  great  fire  of  1849  swept  his 
remaining  property  in  the  universal  conflagration,  and  left  him  almost 
stripped  of  every  thing.  With  the  pittance  he  received  from  the  in- 
surance companies,  who  were  nearly  all  rendered  insolvent  by  this  wide 
destruction  of  property  by  fire,  he  commenced  partnership  with  William 
H.  Merritt,  and,  during  the  seven  years  of  the  continuance  of  the  part- 
nership, the  firm  were  very  successful.  Mr.  Merritt  then  sold  out  his  in- 
terest to  E.  L.  Cheever,  who,  February  5th,  1857,  lost  his  life  in  the  ill- 
fated  steamer,  Colonel  Grossman.  Captain  Joshua  Cheever  theft  took  his 
brother's  interest,  and  the  name  of  the  firm  remained  unchanged.  The 
firm  of  Warne,  Cheever  &  Company  are  composed  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  the  senior  partner,  Captain  Joshua  Cheever,  and  Mortimer  N.  Bur- 
chard  ;  the  last  named  gentleman  Mr.  Warne  brought  up  from  a  boy. 

Mr.  Warne  has  a  large  family.  He  was  married  in  June,  1833,  to  Miss 
Mary  S.  Tenbroeck,  of  New  Jersey,  and  eleven  children  have  been  the  fruit 
of  the  union,  ten  of  whom  survive.  In  his  domestic  relations,  he  has 
ever  been  most  happy ;  and  if  clouds  lowered  around  him  during  a  large 
portion  of  his  eventful  life,  there  were  always  smiles  and  peace  at  his 
fireside. 

Mr.  Warne  has  always  been  a  devotee  to  business,  and  has  had  neither 
leisure  nor  inclination  to  busy  himself  with  atiy  outside  matters.  How- 
ever, when  the  subject  of  the  horse  railroad  came  up  for  consideration  on 
the  part  of  our  leading  citizens,  he  at  once  took  a  prominent  part  in  what 
he  considered  would  be  of  so  much  benefit  to  St.  Louis.  He  is  also  one 
of  the  efficient  directors  of  the  Exchange  Bank  of  St.  Louis ;  is  president 
of  the  civic  organization  of  the  Missouri  Guards,  and  life-member  of  the 
National  Guards,  both  of  which  organizations  are  composed  of  our  most 
respectable  citizens.  He  was  also  the  first  president  of  the  Citizens'  Sav- 
ings Loan  Association.  Mr.  Warne  may  be  proud  of  the  part  which  he 
has  played  upon  the  drama  of  life.  He  has  had  to  contend  with  vicissi- 
tudes that  were  sufficient  to  make  the  bravest  falter,  and  make  the 
stoutest  heart  yield  to  despondency ;  but  though  the  shafts  of  misfortune 
flew  thick  around  him,  he  neither  faltered  nor  yielded ;  and  now  he  can 
reap  his  reward,  and  is  the  senior  partner  of  one  of  the  most  substantial 
and  extensive  firms  in  the  great  metropolis  of  the  West.  He  has  a  large 
number  of  assistants  in  his  business,  and  sedulously  inculcates  those 
principles  of  attention,  rectitude,  and  industry  which  are  so  interwoven 
with  his  own  character.  The  pages  of  his  life  are  instructive  to  the 
young,  and  teach  them  that  opulence  and  social  position  are  in  the  reach 
of  all  who,  like  him,  can  hope,  work,  and  persevere  with  an  untiring 
spirit,  and  are  determined  to  achieve  independence  and  a  sterling  business 
reputation. 


WASHINGTON    KING. 

THE  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  on  the 
5th  of  October,  1815.  His  father,  who  is  still  living,  is  a  native  of  Eng- 
land, who  emigrated  early  to  this  country,  and,  being  a  well-informed 
man,  gave  to  his  children  all  the  advantages  which  the  liberal  range  of 
studies  pursued  in  the  common  schools  in  the  city  of  New  York  afforded. 

Washington  King,  from  a  boy,  was  fond  of  his  book,  and  soon  becom- 
ing an  accomplished  scholar,  turned  his  attention  to  teaching,  and,  in  a 
little  time  could  boast  of  having  the  largest  classical  and  English  school 
in  New  York  city. 

On  December  2d,  1836,  he  married  Miss  Cynthia  M.  Kelsey,  of  Con- 
necticut, by  whom  he  has  two  children.  Believing  that  the  great  Mis- 
sissippi Valley  offered  a  wider  field  for  the  exertion  of  individual  enter- 
prise, he  emigrated  to  St.  Louis  in  1844,  and  commenced  mercantile  and 
manufacturing  pursuits,  in  which  he  became  very  successful;  but  in  1849 
St.  Louis  was  visited  with  a-terrible  calamity,  which  for  a  time  stopped 
all  the  currents  of  business,  and  blighted  the  pecuniary  prospects  of 
hundreds  of  the  thriving  citizens.  The  event  of  the  terrible  fire,  which 
desolated  the  whole  of  the  business  portion  of  St.  Louis,  is  still  fresh  in 
the  remembrance  of  many,  and  will  ever  be  a  marked  epoch  in  its 
history. 

A  little  while  after  this  dreadful  visitation,  Mr.  King  determined  on 
gratifying  a  long-existing  desire,  and  started  on  a  tour  to  Europe,  where 
he  remained  several  years,  visiting  the  various  countries  of  that  enlight- 
ened portion  of  the  globe,  carefully  noting  the  habits  and  customs  of  the 
people,  and  studying  the  languages  and  examining  the  policy  of  the  dif- 
ferent governments  he  visited.  After  spending  two  years  and  six  months 
in  instructive  travel,  he  returned  to  St.  Louis  in  the  spring  of  1852,  and 
in  1855  he  consented,  at  the  repeated  and  earnest  instigation  of  his  many 
friends,  to  become  a  candidate  for  the  mayoralty,  and  was  elected  to  that 
important  office. 

When  in  office,  Mr.  King,  who  always  looked  upon  the  law  as  obliga- 
tory upon  all,  and  created  for  the  general  benefit,  rigidly  compelled  the 
observance  of  legislative  enactments,  and  was  the  first  mayor  who  put 
in  effectual  force  the  Prohibitory  Sunday  Liquor  Law,  and  restrained  the 
pot-house  dissipation  and  indecorum  which  had  so  long  desecrated  the 
Sabbath  ;  and  so  satisfactory  was  his  term  of  office,  that  he  has  been 
repeatedly  solicited  again  to  become  the  people's  candidate,  but  has 
always  declined  the  honor.  He  is  now  at  the  head  of  the  well-known 
Adams  Express  Company  in  this  city,  and  his  valuable  time  is  employed 
in  controlling  the  important  and  extensive  operations  connected  with  the 
duties  of  the  company. 


WASHINGTON    KING,    ESQ., 

Late  Mayor  of  St.  Louis 

(p.  433.) 

ENGRAVED   EXPRESST.Y   FOR  THIS   WORK   FROM    A   PHOTOGRAPH   BY   TROXBLI. 


THOMAS    ALLEN,    ESQ. 

(p.  485.) 

BNGRAVKD   KXPBE8SLY   FOB    THIS   WORK   FROM   A    PHOTOGRAPH    BY    BROWN. 


THOMAS    ALLEN. 

THOMAS  ALLEN  was  born  August  29th,  1813,  in  Pittsfiold,  Berkshire 
county,  Massachusetts.  His  grandfather,  Thomas  Allen,  after  whom  he 
was  named,  was  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  and  during  the  Revolution  was 
a  chaplain,  and  connected  with  the  army  at  White  Plains  commanded  by 
General  Washington,  and  at  Bennington,  where  General  Stark  com- 
manded. He  was  cousin  of  Ethan  Allen,  of  Vermont,  whose  name  is  so 
associated  with  the  heroic  defence  of  his  country. 

Jonathan  Allen,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  was  a  gentle- 
man of  fine  information  and  enterprise,  being  both  a  farmer  and  merchant 
at  Pittsfield,  where  he  held  important  positions  of  trust.  He  was  post- 
master of  the  town,  was  a  justice  of  the  peace,  a  state  senator,  a  commissary- 
general  during  the  war  of  1812,  and  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy- 
one,  regretted  by  all  who  knew  him.  Being  a  man  of  fine  mental  culture, 
it.  was  natural  that  he  should  exercise  a  careful  control  over  the  education 
of  his  children,  and  Thomas  Allen  was  first  sent  to  the  district  schools, 
and  when  sufficiently  advanced  was  sent  to  an  academy,  in  which  Mr. 
Mark  Hopkins,  now  the  president  of  Williams  College,  was  teacher.  It 
was  there,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  when  his  mind  was  developing  its  natural 
faculties,  that  he  first  evinced  a  passion  for  letters,  by  compositions  on 
numerous  literary  subjects,  and  getting  up  a  little  journal  termed  the 
Miscellany,  of  which  he  became  editor.  After  leaving  the  academy  he 
entered  the  freshman  class  of  Union  College  at  Schenectady,  under  the 
charge  of  the  Rev.  Doctor  Nott,  where  he  remained  until  he  graduated  in 
1832.  During  the  four  years  of  his  collegiate  life,  he  stood  high  as  a 
scholar,  and  had  no  superior  in  the  acquirements  of  general  literature. 

After  finishing  his  collegiate  course,  Thomas  Allen  chose  the  law  as  his 
profession,  and  studied  a  few  months  in  the  office  of  James  King  of  Al- 
bany, and  then  removed  to  New  York  with  a  capital  of  twenty-five  dollars. 
His  father  had  given  him  mental  wealth — at  a  great  cost  had  given  him 
knowledge,  which  a  great  philosopher  had  declared  was  "  power,"  and  he 
thought  if  he  had  within  him  the  elements  of  success,  that,  armed  with 
that  talisman,  he  could  soon  win  his  way  to  fame  and  fortune. 

While  studying  law  in  New  York,  Thomas  Allen  supported  himself  by 
his  pen,  and  edited  the  Illustrated  Family  Magazine,  which  attained  a  cir- 
culation of  20,000.  So  highly  were  his  legal  acquirements  appreciated, 
that  he  assisted  Mr.  Clerke,  now  of  the  Supreme  Court,  in  the  preparation 
of  a  digest  of  the  New  York  decisions,  and,  from  the  proceeds  of  this  labor, 
purchased  a  law  library.  He  was  admitted  by  the  Supreme  Court  to 
practice  in  1835,  and  the  same  year  received,  from  his  alma  mater,  the 
degree  of  A.  M.,  and  was  also  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the  Phi 
Beta  Kappa  Society  of  New  York.  He  was  now  looked  upon  as  a 
promising  young  man,  and  received  numerous  invitations  to  deliver  lec- 
tures and  addresses,  which  soon  gave  him  an  enviable  reputation.  After 
20 


438  THOMAS    ALLEN". 


practising  law  with  success  in  New  York  for  two  years,  at  the  invitation 
of  his  uncle,  the  Hon.  E.  W.  Ripley,  member  of  Congress  from  Louisiana, 
he  started  to  take  charge  of  his  practice  in  that  state,  but  stopping  at 
Washington,  he  was  captivated  by  the  buoyant  influences  of  the  political 
atmosphere,  and,  at  the  solicitation  of  some  of  the  leading  statesmen  of 
the  Union,  he  determined  to  establish  a  newspaper  in  that  place.  A 
few  weeks  of  preparation,  and  every  thing  being  ready,  the  Madisonian 
appeared  in  August,  1837. 

The  journals  at  Washington  at  that  time  were  conducted  by  gentlemen 
of  rare  talents  and  ability,  but  the  Madisonian  was  received  with  favor, 
and  the  independent  spirit  of  its  lucid  editorials  won  "golden  opinions." 
So  popular  did  Mr.  Allen  become  in  a  short  period,  that  at  the  extra  ses- 
sion of  Congress,  he  became  a  candidate  for  the  public  printing  and  was 
elected.  His  competitors  were  veterans  of  journalism,  and  had  long  basked 
in  the  favor  of  the  national  council  of  the  country.  Messrs.  Blair  &  Rives 
of  the  Globe,  and  Messrs.  Gales  &  Seaton  of  the  Intelligencer  were  the  op- 
ponents of  Mr.  Allen. 

It  is  impossible  for  us  in  this  sketch  to  follow  Mr.  Allen  through  all  the 
mazes  of  his  editorial  progress,  and  we  will  only  repeat  the  words  uttered 
on  the  floor  of  Congress  by  the  Hon.  James  Buchanan  :  "  that  paper,"  said 
he,  referring  to  the  Madisonian,  "  is  worthy  of  the  days  of  Madison." 
After  five  years  in  the  political  arena,  where  the  young  editor  had  shown 
•himself  capable  of  coping  with  the  first  intellects  of  the  country,  he  sold 
out  the  Madisonian  in  1842  and  came  to  Missouri.  A  few  months  after  his 
arrival,  he  married  Miss  Anne  C.  Russell,  daughter  of  William  Russell,  a 
distinguished  and  wealthy  citizen  of  St.  Louis.  The  marriage  took  place 
July  12th,  1842. 

After  Mr.  Allen's  advent  in  St.  Louis,  he  did  not  long  continue  the 
practice  of  the  law,  which  he  had  at  first  determined  to  pursue,  but  finding 
that  his  private  affairs  had  attained  a  considerable  magnitude,  he  aban- 
doned altogether  his  profession.  His  mind,  however,  accustomed  to 
create,  could  not  remain  inactive,  and  he  published  several  pamphlets  on 
interesting  subjects,  which  had  the  effect  at  the  time  of  controlling,  to  a 
cqnsiderable  degree,  the  currents  of  popular  opinion.  Among  these  pub- 
lications was  a  Commentary  on  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  1803,  and  another 
called  "  Letter  Smuggling."  The  last  was  reprinted  by  the  order  of  the 
post-office  department  of  the  United  States.  He  was  also  elected  presi- 
dent of  the  St.  Louis  Horticultural  Society,  and  prepared  for  the  St.  Louis 
delegation  to  the  Chicago  convention,  an  elaborate  pamphlet  on  the  com- 
merce and  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  River  and  its  tributaries.  He  also, 
in  1848,  used  ;his  efficient  influence  to  get  a  municipal  subscription  of 
$700,000  to  the  St.  Louis  and  Cincinnati  Railroad. 

Mr.  Allen  has  always  been  a  great  advocate  of  internal  improvements, 
looking  upon  them  as  the  proper  arteries  of  a  country,  furnishing  vitality 
and  strength  to  the  'body  corporate.  In  1849,  when  a  meeting  was  called 
to  take  action  on  the  subject  of  a  Pacific  railroad,  he  ably  discussed  the 
importance  of  a  u  national  central  highway  to  the  Pacific,"  and  became 
one  of  tlue  corporators  of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  which,  when  it  will  receive 
the  patriotic  aid  to  which  it  is  entitled,  will  soon  reach  the  great  ocean 
which  flows  by  our  western  borders.  A  pamphlet  from  the  pen  of 
Thomas  Allen,  containing  "The  AfMress  of  the  People  of  St.  Louis  to  the 


THOMAS    ALLEN.  439 


People  of  the  United  States,"  which  was  widely  scattered  through  the 
Union,  met  with  much  favor ;  and  at  the  national  convention  called  on 
the  subject  of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  fourteen  of  the  United  States  were  rep- 
resented, and  Mr.  Allen  was  selected  by  the  convention  to  prepare  the 
memorial  to  Congress. 

When  the  charter  was  granted  to  the  Pacific  Railroad  of  the  state  of 
Missouri,  there  was  prejudice  on  the  subject,  for  Missouri  was  far  behind 
the  times,  and  to  remove  this  prejudice  Mr.  Allen  was  determined.  He 
had  been  elected  the  first  president  of  the  company  after  its  organization, 
and  to  arouse  the  slumbering  energy  of  the  people,  and  to  awaken  in  them 
the  proper  feelings  in  regard  to  the  importance  of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  he 
travelled  on  horseback  through  the  different  counties  of  its  projected 
route  in  the  state,  haranguing  the  people  at  the  most  prominent  stations; 
and  having  been  elected  to  the  state  Senate,  he  succeeded  in  interesting 
the  members  of  the  assembly  on  the  subject,  and  a  loan  of  state  credit 
was  granted  for  $2,000,000.  On  the  subject  of  railroads,  it  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  Mr.  Allen  has  done  more  to  originate  and  bring  them 
to  their  present  state  of  prosperity  than  any  man  in  Missouri.  His  talents 
and  time  have  been  long  given  to  foster  their  growth,  and  he  well  deserves 
the  gratitude  of  the  country  for  his  continual  exertions.  It  was  he  who 
proposed  the  whole  system  of  railroads  through  the  localities  which  they 
now  take  in  their  course. 

When  he  was  in  the  Senate,  he  gave  effectual  support  to  the  creation 
of  a  geological  survey,  which  has  made  known  the  different  sections  of  the 
state,  attracted  immigration,  and,  part  passu  with  the  railroads,  has  served 
to  develop  its  resources.  He  was  agent  for  the  World's  Fair,  both  in 
London  and  New  York,  by  appointment,  and  the  journals  both  abroad 
and  in  the  East  glowed  with  contributions  from  his  pen  on  the  state  of 
Missouri,  and  he  placed  her  before  the  world  with  all  her  mammoth  re- 
sources made  manifest.  He  selected  the  land  donated  by  the  general 
government  for  the  Pacific  Railroad  ;  and  when,  in  1854,  he  resigned  his 
position  as  director  and  president,  resolutions  the  most  complimentary 
were  passed  by  the  board.  He  was  again  nominated  at  this  time  for  state 
senator,  but  declined.  In  1857,  he  was  elected  president  of  the  Terre 
Haute,  Alton,  and  St.  Louis  Railroad,  which  he  held  for  one  year.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1858,  he  established  the  well-known  banking-house  of  Allen, 
Copp,  <fe  Nisbet,  he  furnishing  the  capital.  In  1859  he  was  entrusted  by 
the  state  of  Missouri  with  $900,000  of  her  guaranteed  bonds,  to  be  dis- 
posed of  by  him  for  the  benefit  of  the  South-west  Branch  of  the  Pacific 
Railroad,  and  he  discharged  the  trust  with  fidelity  and  success. 

Mr.  Allen  has  Avon  for  himself  laurels  that  can  never  fade.  He  is  the 
father  of  the  railroad  system  of  the  state,  and  with  paternal  devotion  has 
done  all  that  man  could  do  to  advance  its  interest.  As  a  benefactor  of 
Missouri  he  has  advocated  her  internal  improvements,  and  with  his  graphic 
pen  revealed  to  the  world  her  agricultural  and  mineral  wealth ;  and  as  a 
citizen  of  St.  Louis  he  has  ever  been  solicitous  of  her  interest,  by  mak- 
ing her  the  great  reservoir  whence  all  her  channels  of  internal  improve- 
ments must  flow.  His  life  has  been  one  of  utility  and  constant  action  ; 
and  his  literary  and  political  contributions  and  unceasing  efforts  for  the 
good  of  the  state  are  well  known  to  the  living  and  will  receive  the  appre- 
ciation of  posterity. 


ISAAC    ROSENFELD,   JR. 

ISAAC  ROSENFELD,  Jr.,  was  born  near  Nuremberg,  in  Bavaria,  March 
27th,  1827.  His  father,  Kallman  Rosenfeld,  who  was  a  miller  and  grain 
dealer  in  Germany,  is  still  living,  and  has, eight  children. 

From  the  circumstance  of  his  father  being  placed  in  a  comfortable 
sphere  in  life,  Isaac  Rosenfeld,  Jr.,  had  all  care  given  to  his  education  in 
youth,  and  did  not  want  for  teachers  to  fit  him  suitably  for  the  vocation 
in  life  it  was  determined  that  he  should  pursue.  When  this  was  acquired, 
he  was  placed  as  a  clerk  in  a  large  dry-goods  house,  where  he  remained 
for  three  years.  He  then  made  an  engagement  in  another  house,  in  the 
same  capacity,  where  he  remained  for  four  years.  He  had  by  this  time 
acquired  a  complete  knowledge  of  his  business,  and,  having  reached  the 
age  of  manhood,  he  determined  to  make  the  United  States  of  America 
his  future  residence.  He  had  studied  the  theory  of  free  institutions,  and 
had  become  a  convert  to  the  doctrine  that  man  can  govern  himself. 
He  accordingly  left  Bavaria  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  and  embarked  for 
New  York.  On  arriving  in  this  country,  he  traveled  for  some  time,  that 
he  might  see  the  different  cities,  and  select  a  location.  On  seeing  St. 
Louis,  be  gave  it  the  preference. 

Isaac  Rosenfeld  arrived  in  St.  Louis  March  7th,  1849.  He  com- 
menced the  wholesale  fancy  dry-goods  business,  in  partnership  with  other 
gentlemen,  and  the  firm  was  styled  Ottenheimer  &  Company.  The  firm  was 
soon  after  changed  to  Silberman  &  Rosenfeld,  which  continued  until  1853, 
when  he  gave  up  commercial  pursuits.  He  was  then  elected  treasurer  and 
secretary  of  the  Germans'  Saving  Association,  an  office  of  great  trust  and 
responsibility,  which  he  held  for  three  years.  He  always  had  a  predis- 
position for  the  business  of  finance,  and,  with  some  few  others,  originated 
the  present  State  Savings  Institution,  and  started  it  on  that  firm  basis 
which  has  insured  so  effectually  its  subsequent  success.  He  was  elected 
cashier  of  the  institution,  which  does  the  largest  money  transactions  of 
any  bank  in  the  western  country ;  frequently  its  daily  business  exceeding 
a  million  of  dollars. 

Mr.  Rosenfeld  is  just  in  the  flower  of  manhood,  and  in  all  matters 
of  finance,  there  is  no  one  in  the  city  whose  opinion  is  more  valued.  In 
the  season  of  youth  he  has  achieved  what  is  usually  the  work  of  a  life- 
time— and  his  future  is  redolent  with  brightness. 


ISAAC    ROSENFELD.    JR. 

(I>  441.) 

ENttRAVEI)    EXPRESSLY   FOR  TJII8   WORK   FROM    A    PHOTOGRAPH   BY    BROWN. 


RICHARD    H.     COLE. 

(p.  448.) 

KNGRAVEI)   EXPRESSLY   FOR  THIS   WORK    FROM    A   PHOTOGRAPH    BY   TROXELU 


RICHARD    II.    COLE. 

RICHARD  H.  COLE  was  born  in  Stafford  county,  Virginia,  March  22d, 
1816.  His  father,  Daniel  Cole,  was  an  honest  blacksmith,  who  early  taught 
his  son  the  trade  that  he  followed,  and  gave  him  a  good  common  business 
education. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen, Richard  H.  Cole  thought  himself  proficient  enough 
in  his  business  to  take  charge  of  a  blacksmith-shop  and  coach-factory, 
in  London  county,  Virginia.  So  expert  was  he  in  horse-shoeing  that  he 
won  the  friendship  of  a  man  by  the  name  of  Henry  Sacket,  by  the  skill 
that  he  evinced  in  this  particular  branch  of  his  trade,  who  proposed  to 
him  to  go  and  see  the  West,  and  settle  in  that  growing  country — that 
he  would  pay,  at  all  events,  the  expenses  of  a  journey  of  observation. 
He  followed  the  suggestion  of  his  friend,  and  came  to  Missouri  in  the 
autumn  of  1835.  He  went  to  Marion  City,  where  he  married  Miss 
Amanda  Eversle,  daughter  of  Jacob  B.  Eversle,  and,  in  1837,  moved  to 
St.  Charles,  where  he  became  engineer  in  a  steam  flour-mill,  which  em- 
ployment he  pursued  for  some  years,  and  then  resumed  his  trade.  He 
remained  working  at  his  trade  for  four  years,  and  in  1844,  came  to  St. 
Louis. 

When  Mr.  Cole  came  to  St.  Louis,  he  was  but  an  humble  blacksmith, 
and  engaged  himself  to  Messrs.  Gaty  &  McCune  at  eight  dollars  per  week, 
and  at  that  time  he  could  obtain  no  higher  wages,  which  were  scarcely 
sufficient  for  supporting  his  family.  After  pursuing  journey-work  for 
some  little  time,  he  determined,  if  possible,  to  commence  business  him- 
self, and  rented  a  place  in  the  vacant  lot  adjoining  the  Park  Mills,  from 
Mr.  Francis  W'atkins,  where  he  built  a  rough  shop,  from  some  boards 
which  were  kindly  furnished  him  by  Mr.  Watkins.  He  remained  eighteen 
months  in  this  spot,  when,  having  saved  a  little  money,  he  built  a  large 
shop  on  Main  street,  and  rapidly  extended  his  business. 

While  engaged  in  business  on  Main  street,  he  became  acquainted  with 
the  firm  of  Chouteau,  Harrison  &  Valle.  In  their  friendly  intercourse, 
this  firm  told  him  that  they  had  made  a  contract  with  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  Company,  to  furnish  them  a  large  quantity  of  nuts  and  bolts, 
for  the  purpose  of  bridging.  From  the  want  of  a  careful  examination, 
they  had  contracted  to  furnish  them  with  nuts  at  a  price  so  low,  that, 
on  calculating  the  expense  after  the  contract  was  closed,  they  found  it 
would  be  most  unprofitable.  Mr.  Cole  saw  the  dilemma  in  which  they 
were  placed,  and  it  struck  him  that  he  could  furnish  nuts  at  much  less 
cost  than  usually  attended  their  manufacture,  by  inventing  a  machine 
that  would  cut  them  at  once  from  the  iron,  without  subjecting  them  to 
the  tedious  process  to  which  they  were  heretofore  subjected,  lie  put  his 
brain  on  the  rack  of  invention,  and,  after  much  thinking  and  some  ex- 
periments, he  succeeded  in  producing  a  machine  that  would  answer  the 
desired  purpose. 

Feeling  confident  in  the  efficacy  of  his  machine,  he  proposed  to  Messrs. 


446  RICHARD   H.    COLE. 


Chouteau,  Harrison  &  Valle,  to  take  the  contract  off  their  hands.  His 
proposition  they  gladly  assented  to,  and,  on  Mr.  Chouteau  becoming 
acquainted  with  the  new  invention,  he  purchased  a  half  interest  for 
twenty-five  hundred  dollars.  However,  in  a  little  while,  he  expressing  a 
desire  of  selling  out  for  the  same  price,  Mr.  Cole  repurchased  his  interest. 

Mr.  Cole  had  heard  that  there  was  a  celebrated  nut  machine  invented 
by  some  one  in  Pittsburgh,  and  he  started  for  that  city  with  the  intention 
of  purchasing  the  machine  if  it  proved  superior  to  his  own,  so  that  he 
could  employ  it  in  the  manufacture  of  nuts.  On  seeing  the  machine,  he 
found  that  his  own  was  incomparably  superior;  and  it  soon  became  widely 
known,  and  he  became  the  great  nut-maker  in  St.  Louis.  He  made 
several  inventions,  which  covered  all  the  different  varieties  of  nuts,  and, 
having  patented  machinery  to  subserve  his  purpose,  there  was  no  one 
who  could  compete  with  him  in  their  manufacture. 

So  sensible  did  Mr.  Chouteau  become  of  the  immense  capital  contained 
in  the  inventions,  that  he  gave  him  $37,500  for  the  half  which  he  had  be- 
fore resold  for  $2,500,  and  a  firm  was  established  which  went  under  the 
title  of  R.  H.  Cole  &  Company,  and  then  was  built  the  St.  Louis  Nut  and 
Washer  Factory.  The  fame  of  the  new  inventions  spread  far  and  wide, 
and  one-third  of  the  business  done  west  of  the  Mountains  was  purchased 
by  Mr.  J.  J.  O'Fallon  for  $25,000,  and  one-third  of  the  business  done  east 
of  the  Mountains  for  the  further  sum  of  $40,000,  and  the  firm  became 
known  as  J.  J.  O'Fallon  &  Company. 

So  useful  are  the  inventions  of  Mr.  Cole  that  their  fame  has  passed 
the  Atlantic,  and  there  are  branch  houses  established  in  various  portions 
of  Europe,,  that  are  employed  in  the  particular  manufactures  to  which 
they  are  suited.  Mr.  Watkins,  from  whom  he  rented  the  ground  on  which 
he  reared  his  little  shop,  owns  a  small  interest  in  the  inventions,  and  is  an 
agent'  in  Europe.  In  Birmingham,  the  well-known  Victoria  Works,  which 
are  one  of  the  branches  of  the  concern  in  St.  Louis,  are  carried  on  by 
him,  the  firm  being  called  Watkins  <fe  Keen. 

When  Mr.  Cole  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1844  he  was  in  humble  circum- 
stances indeed,  and  he  had  to  labor  hard,  under  the  ten-hour  system,  for 
six  days,  before  he  became  entitled  to  his  weekly  salary  of  eight  dollars. 
For  many  years  he  pursued  his  laborious  task  with  a  contented  mind,  yet 
hoping  and  bent  upon  producing  some  improvements  in  mechanics  to 
which  would  be  attached  emolument  and  honor.  What  once  were  golden 
dreams  have  assumed  a  practical  shape,  and  the  humble  mechanic,  from 
the  loom  of  his  active  brain,  has  produced  an  invention  which  has  startled 
the  world  and  brought  fame  and  fortune  to  himself.  Mr.  Cole  is  richly 
deserving  of  all  that  he  has  gained,  and  all  that  may  await  him ;  for, 
even  before  the  golden  change  came  upon  his  fortunes,  he  was  entitled  to 
all  that  could  be  conveyed  by  the  poet,  when  he  wrote :  "  An  honest  man 
is  the  noblest  work  of  God." 


/  ^  -  oS~- 

WILLIAM     G.    CLARK,    ESQ. 

(]>.  447.1 

KNORAVEI)    EXI'RESSLY    KOR   THIS   WORK    FROM    A    I'HOTOORAPII    BY    BROWN 


WILLIAM    G.    CLARK. 

THE  parents  of  William  Clark  belonged  to  the  state  of  Maryland,  and 
he  was  born  in  Baltimore  county,  November  4th,  1818.  His  grandmother 
still  lives,  at  the  venerable  age  of  ninety-five  years.  His  father,  Matthew 
Clark,  kept  a  hotel  and  store  combined,  and  raised  in  a  respectable  man- 
ner a  family  of  six  children,  giving  them  all  a  fair  education,  and  training 
them  to  habits  of  early  industry. 

William  G.  Clark  was  kept  at  school  until  he  reached  the  age  of  seven- 
teen, and  then  he  became  clerk  to  Mr.  John  Taylor,  a  dry-goods  merchant, 
with  whom  he  did  not  long  remain  ;  for,  being  invited  by  Mr.  Trowbridge, 
the  brother-in-law  of  Mr.  Taylor,  who  was  preparing  to  locate  in  the 
west,  to  accompany  him  to  his  new  home,  he  accepted  the  offer,  and,  ou 
reaching  St.  Louis  in  1836,  he  commenced  business  with  him  in  the 
capacity  of  clerk.  He  remained  three  years  in  that  situation,  and,  under- 
standing by  this  time  perfectly  the  routine  of  commercial  pursuits,  in 
1839  he  commenced  business  on  his  own  account,  in  conjunction  with 
two  others,  and  a  firm  was  established  under  the  title  of  Jones,  Clark 
and  Gill,  who  carried  on  the  clothing  business.  He  continued  as  clothing 
merchant  until  1842,  and  then,  believing  that  the  lumber  business  offered 
greater  inducements,  he  entered  upon  his  new  pursuit,  and  soon  became 
one  of  the  most  extensive  and  successful  lumber  merchants  in  the  city. 

Mr.  Clark,  by  his  own  efforts,  has  reached  affluence  and  a  commercial 
position,  which  has  given  his  name  weight  and  respect  in  the  community. 
He  is  extensively  associated  with  all  enterprises  which  serve  to  strengthen 
and  increase  the  business  elements  of  St.  Louis.  He  is  a  director  in  the 
Southern  Bank,  and  essentially  promoted  the  building  of  the  City  Uni- 
versity, which  promises  to  elevate  so  much  the  standard  of  education  in 
our  city,  and  is  a  trustee  of  the  institution.  He  has  been  for  many  years 
a  member  of  the  church,  and  is  a  director  in  the  Lindell  Hotel,  now  in 
the  course  of  erection. 

Mr.  Clark  has  been  twice  married ;  first  to  Miss  Julia  Miller,  of  Balti- 
more, in  1840,  and  had  a  large  family  of  ten  children.  His  present  esti- 
mable lady  was  Miss  Mary  Bede  Parks,  daughter  of  Joseph  Parks,  of  St. 
Charles  county,  Missouri.  Mr.  Clark  has  been  a  resident  of  St.  Louis  for 
twenty-three  years,  and  is  well  known  in  the  community  as  a  man  of  sterling 
worth,  who  is  well  worthy  of  the  fair  fame,  which  a  life  of  integrity  has 
established,  and  of  the  affluence  he  has  amassed  by  his  industry,  lie  is 
the  owner  of  that  fine  block  of  buildings  known  as  Clark's  Buildings, 
which  are  an  ornament  to  the  locality  in  which  thev  are  erected. 


HON.    JOHN    RICHARD    BARRET. 

JOHN  RICHARD  BARRET  was  born  August  21st,  1825,  in  the  town  of 
Greensburgh,  on  Green  River,  Kentucky.  William  Barret,  his  grandfather, 
was  a  respectable  planter  in  the  Old  Dominion,  and,  though  but  a  youth 
at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  soon  became  one  of  his 
country's  defenders,  and,  when  almost  a  boy  in  years,  was  made  a  captain 
in  a  Virginia  regiment.  Dorothy  Winston,  whom  he  afterward  married, 
was  of  one  of  the  ancient  families  of  Virginia,  and  first  cousin  oi  Patrick 
Henry,  the  illustrious  orator  and  patriot.  His  son,  William  D.  Barret, 
the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  was  a  man  of  sterling  worth, 
remarkable  industry,  and  unimpeachable  integrity.  He  held  the  highest 
positions  of  trust  in  the  state  of  Kentucky,  and  on  his  removal  from 
Kentucky  to  St.  Louis,  in  1839,  he  associated  himself,  in  the  grocery  and 
commission  business,  with  Messrs.  Blaine  &  Tompkins,  and  died  in  1844. 
His  wife,  who  is  the  daughter  of  General  James  Allen,  of  Kentucky,  still 
survives. 

John  Richard  Barret,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  had  all  the  advantages 
of  an  early  education  which  the  country  schools  of  Kentucky  at  that  time 
afforded.  His  father,  though  a  self-made  man,  was  always  anxious  for 
the  mental  culture  of  his  children,  and  endeavored  to  instil  into  their 
minds  a  passion  for  learning.  Directly  the  petticoat  was  shifted  for  the 
"round  jacket,"  John  Richard  was  sent  to  the  little  log  school-house,  and 
there  became  familiar  with  the  rudiments  of  the  English  branches.  When 
not  at  school,  he  frequently  assisted  in  work  upon  the  farm,  and  went 
regularly  to  mill  in  the  old  primitive  manner,  sitting  on  a  well-filled  sack 
of  corn  balanced  on  a  horse's  back.  If  the  rider's  attention  is  withdrawn 
for  a  moment  to  other  things,  down  goes  the  sack  ;  and  to  this  day  Colonel 
Barret  is  fond  of  relating  to  his  friends  his  little  mishaps  when  he  went 
to  mill. 

After  reaching  the  age  of  thirteen,  John  Richard  was  sent  to  Centre 
College,  where  he  remained  until  he  passed  through  the  freshman  course, 
and  was  then  called  to  St.  Louis  by  his  father,  who  had  but  shortly  re- 
moved to  that  city,  and  had  experienced  such  a  considerable  loss  by  fire, 
that  he  thought  it  a  part  of  prudence  to  remove  for  a  time  his  children 
from  school,  to  curtail  expenses.  However,  the  president  of  St.  Louis 
University,  understanding  his  motives,  insisted  that  he  should  send  his 
children  to  that  eminent  institution,  and  remain  a  debtor  for  their  educa- 
tion until  his  pecuniary  circumstances  were  in  a  prosperous  condition. 
This  generous  offer  was  accepted,  and  John  Richard  graduated  at  the 
university  with  the  highest  honors  of  his  class,  in  1843,  and  delivered  the 
valedictory. 


HON.    J.    R.    BA  RR  ETT. 

(P  451.) 

ENGRAVED   EXPRESSLY   FOR  THIS   WORK   FROM   A   PHOTOGRAPH   BY   BROWN. 


IIOX.    JOHN   RICHAED   BARRET.  453 

He  then  commenced  the  study  of  the  law,  but  his  father  dying,  he  was 
compelled  to  take  out  a  license  to  practise  before  he  had  completed  the 
time  which  he  had  set  apart  to  thoroughly  qualify  himself  for  his  profes- 
sion. From  the  very  first  he  was  successful ;  nature  had  done  much,  and 
his  own  efforts  were  not  wanting.  He  was  moulded  into  a  form  which 
a  knight  of  the  middle  ages  might  have  been  proud  to  possess,  and  had 
an  energy,  combined  with  his  natural  and  intellectual  attainments,  which 
insured  success.  Upon  him  devolved  chiefly  the  care  of  his  brothers  and 
sisters,  younger  than  himself,  and  five  in  number. 

In  1852,  he  entered  upon  the  political  arena,  and  since  that  time  has 
been  one  of  the  favorite  champions  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  has 
never  been  defeated.  He  was  elected  in  1852  to  the  Missouri  legis- 
lature, which  position  he  held  for  four  terms,  and  was  a  most  efficient 
representative.  In  1858,  while  absent  from  the  state,  he  was  nominated 
for  Congress,  and  party  excitement  running  very  high,  the  election  was  a 
most  exciting  one  in  the  coming  August.  Colonel  Barret  was  elected  by 
a  considerable  majority  ;  he  was  the  Democratic  candidate. 

In  November,  1847,  Colonel  Barret  married  Miss  Eliza  P.  Simpson,  the 
beautiful  and  accomplished  daughter  of  the  Hon.  James  Simpson,  now 
chief-justice  of  the  state  of  Kentucky.  In  1852,  he  lost  this  amiable 
woman,  who  had  blessed  his  home  for  five  years,  and  been  the  chief  source 
of  his  happiness. 

Colonel  Barret  has  that  magnetism  of  character,  so  rarely  possessed 
by  the  human  family,  which  attracts  toward  him  his  fellow  man  without 
any  apparent  ^  effort.  He  appears  to  have  been  formed  by  nature  for 
public  life  ;  and  his  frankness  of  manner  not  only  conciliates  regard,  but 
successfully  woos  the  most  friendly  feelings.  In  politics  he  is  known  by  the 
appellation  of  "  Missouri  Dick ;"  and  as  a  champion  of  the  Democratic 
party  he  has  been  most  successful,  and  never  been  defeated  upon  the 
political  arena. 

While  a  member  of  the  legislature,  he  obtained  the  charter  of  the 
Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Association.  He  has  been  its  president  since 
its  incorporation,  and  the  fame  of  its  lovely  "Fair  Grounds,"  and  its  wide- 
spread salutary  influence  over  agricultural  and  mechanical  pursuits,  is 
known  and  felt  throughout  the  tJnion.  In  politics,  he  has  always  been 
for  the  union  of  his  party,  and  stood  for  the  union  of  the  states.  He  is 
in  the  prime  of  manhood,  and  will  gather  fresh  laurels  in  the  legislative 
halls  of  his  country,  in  which  he  will  soon  commence  his  useful  duties. 


GERARD    B.    ALLEN. 

THE  subject  of  this  memoir  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  being  born  in  the 
city  of  Cork,  November  6th,  1813.  His  father,  Thomas  Allen,  was  a 
respectable  silk  weaver  of  that  city,  and  young  Allen,  believing  that  in 
America  labor  would  be  better  rewarded  than  in  his  native  country,  re- 
solved to  emigrate,  and  started  for  the  city  of  New  York  in  1836. 

Previous  to  leaving  Ireland,  young  Gerard  B.  Allen  had  learned  the 
carpenter  and  turner  business,  and  on  his  arrival  in  New  York,  followed 
those  pursuits  for  more  than  a  year,  and  then  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1837. 
Here  he  worked  journeywork  until  1841,  when  he  entered  upon  business 
himself,  and,  in  turning  and  manufacturing  bedsteads,  he  added  consider- 
ably to  his  worldly  wealth,  and  extended  his  business  relations.  In  1845, 
he  had  widely  extended  his  operations,  and  owned  two  saw-mills,  one  in 
St.  Louis  and  the  other  on  Gasconade  River. 

Believing  that  the  working  of  iron  afforded  a  vast  field  of  enterprise 
and  wealth  in  St.  Louis,  in  1847  he  connected  himself  in  the  foundry 
business,  and  became  a  member  of  the  well-known  firm  of  Gaty,  McCune 
&  Co.,  with  whom  he  remained  until  1855.  Two  years  after  he  had  lost 
his  amiable  wife,  who  was  Miss  Frances  Adams,  of  New  York,  he  com- 
menced, on  his  own  account,  his  business  at  the  Fulton  Iron  Works. 

Mr.  Allen  is  well  known  to  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  as  a  sterling  busi- 
ness man,  and  the  uprightness  of  his  character  has  won  the  confidence 
of  the  community.  He  is  widely  connected  with  positions  of  trust,  and 
is  president  of  the  Covenant  Life  Insurance  Company,  is  a  director  in  the 
Hope  Fire  Marine  Insurance  Company,  and  also  in  the  Bank  of  the  State 
of  Missouri ;  he  is  also  vice-president  of  the  O'Fallon  Polytechnic  Insti- 
tute, and  of  the  North  Missouri  Railroad. 

Every  position  of  life  which  Mr.  Allen  fills  and  has  filled,  he  has  done 
it  with  satisfaction,  and  the  eagerness  with  which  he  is  sought  after  to 
hold  important  trusts,  and  to  control  important  functions,  shows  the  ster- 
ling value  of  his  character  in  the  community. 


GERARD    B.    ALLEN,    ESQ. 

(p.  455.) 

ENGRAVED   EXPRESSLY   FOR    THIS  WORK   FROM  A  PHOTOGRAPH   BY   BROWN. 


WILLIAM    L.     EWING,    ESQ. 

(p.45T.) 

ENGRAVED   EXPRESSLY   FOK   THIS  WORK   FROM   A   PHOTOGRAPH   BY   BROWN 


WILLIAM    L.    EWING. 

WILLIAM  L.  EWING  was  born  January  31st,  1809,  near  the  town  of 
Vincennes,  Indiana.  When  the  whole  of  that  portion  of  country  where 
Vincennes  is  situated  was  called  the  Illinois  Territory,  Nathaniel  C.  Swing, 
the  father  of  William  L.  Ewing,  received  the  appointment  from  the  govern- 
ment as  receiver  of  public  money,  and  removed  at  an  early  day  to  the  old 
French  settlement  to  enter  upon  the  duties  of  his  office.  He  was  like- 
wise a  member  of  the  territorial  legislature,  where  he  was  known  as  a 
hard  worker  in  every  measure  that  concerned  the  advancement  of  the 
Illinois  Territory.  He  left  his  influence  upon  the  times  in  which  he 
lived,  and  was  well  known  for  his  strong  advocacy  in  making  the  state  of 
his  adoption  a  non-slaveholding  state.  He  died  at  the  advanced  age 
of  seventy-five,  in  the  year.  1848. 

The  very  circumstance  of  William  L.  Ewing  being  born  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Vincennes  as  early  as  1809,  shows  at  once  that  he  did  not 
enjoy  very  excellent  advantages  of  education  in  his  youth.  He  had  the 
instruction  in  the  limited  degree  which  the  country  schools  at  that  period 
imparted  ;  but  his  thirst  for  knowledge  overcame  the  barrier  of  adventitious 
circumstances  and  by  continual  self-culture  he  garnered  much  useful  in- 
formation. 

Believing  that  Vincennes,  like  most  of  the  old  towns  settled  by  the 
French,  would  never  be  a  place  of  great  magnitude,  William  L.  Ewing 
determined  on  removing  to  St.  Louis,  and  landed  on  August  17th,  1821. 
His  first  business  effort  was  with  Dr.  William  Carr  Lane,  his  brother-in- 
law,  with  whom  he  came  to  St.  Louis,  and  engaged  with  him  in  the 
capacity  of  clerk,  and  remained  in  that  position  for  more  than  three  years. 
(His  employer  was  the  first  mayor  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  and  was  after- 
ward governor  of  New  Mexico.)  After  leaving  the  employment  of  Dr. 
William  Carr  Lane,  Mr.  Ewing  went  some  time  to  the  St.  Louis  University 
to  complete  his  education,  and  then  engaged  as  clerk  in  the  Missouri 
Republican  office,  and  served  in  that  capacity  in  sundry  other  places  until 
1833,  when  he  returned  to  his  native  town  in  Indiana,  and  started  a 
store,  which  he  successfully  conducted  for  three  years  and  a  half. 
TIaving  thus  achieved  a  start  in  Vincennes,  Mr.  Ewing  again  came  to  St. 
Louis,  determining  to  build  up  a  fortune  and  commercial  reputation  in  a 
city  which  he  knew  would  soon  occupy  a  position  of  primary  importance 
in  the  commercial  world. 

The  second  advent  of  William  L.  Ewing  in  the  Mound  City  was  attend- 
ed with  the  most  auspicious  circumstances.  He  opened  a  grocery  and 
commission  house,  and  at  once  commenced  a  most  prosperous  career.  The 
firm  was  known  as  Berthhold  &  Ewing. 

The  year  1849  will  ever  be  remembered  as  a  marked  year  in  the  an- 
nals of  St.  Louis.  A  destructive  fire  broke  out  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
city,  and,  despite  the  exertions  of  the  citizens  and  firemen,  raged  with  a 
fury  that  threatened  to  wrap  the  whole  town  in  the  conflagration.  Amid 


460  WILLIAM   L.    EWLNG. 


the  thousands  of  sufferers  was  the  firm  of  Berthhold  &  Evving,  after  a 
prosperous  existence  of  ten  years — the  loss  was  $18,000. 

Nothing  daunted  by  the  unexpected  calamity,  Mr.  Ewing,  with  the 
confidence  and  energy  for  which  he  is  remarkable,  again  commenced 
business  under  the  firm  of  William  L.  Evving.  &  Company,  which  is  still 
in  existence,  and  it  has  the  confidence  and  respect  of  the  whole  business 
community.  He  was  married  February  8th,  1838,  to  Miss  Clara  Berth- 
hold,  who  was  the  granddaughter  of  Pierre  Chouteau,  senior,  who  was 
the  companion  of  Pierre  Laclede  Ligueste,  the  founder  of  St.  Louis. 

William  L.  Ewing  has  accomplished  all  that  he  wished  for.  It  was  his 
aim  to  excel  in  the  avocation  he  chose,  and  he  has  succeeded.  He  is 
known  as  one  of  the  loading  merchants  of  St.  Louis,  and  his  integrity 
and  cordial  deportment  have  won  the  respect  and  love  of  its  citizens.  He 
is  liberal  in  his  views,  and  a  great  advocate  of  internal  improvements. 
Public  spirit  and  enterprise  are  elements  of  his  character,  and  he  is  liberal 
in  his  assistance  to  any  public  measure  that  tends  to  advance  the  interest 
of  the  city  or  the  state.  He  has  acquired  his  wealth  not  by  practising  a 
miser  parsimony,  but  by  the  expansive  views  which  he  took  of  business 
relations,  accompanied  by  energy,  perseverance,  and  industry.  In  his 
charities  there  are  few  more  liberal,  and  what  he  gives  is  to  relieve  suffer- 
ing, and  not  from  any  spirit  of  ostentation.  He  is  a  director  of  the 
Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Association,  is  a  director  in  the  Merchants' 
Bank  and  Union  Insurance  Company  ;  and  to  the  various  public  institu- 
tions, eleemosynary  and  literary,  he  has  subscribed  munificently.  He 
was  a  great  encourager  of  the  steamboat  interest,  and  owned  largely  in 
many  of  the  finest  that  land  on  the  levee.  One  of  the  handsomest  boats 
on  the  Mississippi  bears  his  name. 


LOUIS    A.    LEBAUME,    ESQ. 
Pretident  of  the  St.  Luuit  Gas  Company. 

(p.  46].) 

KNURAYKD   BXPBB8SLY    FOR  THIS   WORK   FROM    A   PHOTOO B Aril   BY  TROXBM, 


LOUIS    A.   LEBAUME. 

THE  biography  of  Louis  A.  Lebaume  commences  in  St.  Louis ;  for  he 
was  born  in  this  city  on  March  13th,  1807.  His  father,  Louis  Lebaume, 
was  a  native  of  France,  a  gentleman  of  fine  education,  which  made  him 
take  a  prominent  part  in  the  country  he  early  adopted  as  his  own.  Un- 
der Zenon  Zrudeau,  the  Spanish  commander,  he  filled  the  important  and 
responsible  position  of  secretary,  and  after  the  transfer  of  the  province  of 
Louisiana  to  the  United  States,  in  due  time  he  was  elected  one  of  the 
judges  of  Common  Pleas,  and  likewise  colonel  of  the  militia.  His  wife, 
who  was  the  mother  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  and  whose  maiden 
name  was  Susan  Dubruil,  was  connected  with  one  of  the  oldest  families  in 
St.  Louis,  and  was  born  within  its  precincts.  The  house  in  which  the 
Dubruil  family  lived  was  an  old-fashioned  stone  building  with  extended 
portico  situated  on  the  block  in  Second  street,  west  side,  between  Ches- 
nut  and  Pine.  The  whole  square  was  owned  by  Mr.  Dubruil,  and  a  part 
of  it  was  devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  vegetables,  and  on  one  extremity 
was  located  a  barn.  On  that  square  now  stands  a  marble  building  built 
by  Mr.  Gay,  in  which  will  be  held  the  Mechanics'  and  Southern  Banks, 
and  it  is  in  the  very  heart  of  the  business  of  St.  Louis,  and  its  value  most 
enormous.  One  of  the  family  who  resided  in  that  square  is  still  alive. 
It  is  Mrs.  Celeste  Delaurier,  sister  of  Mrs.  Lebaume,  now  seventy-five  years 
of  age. 

At  the  age  of  seven  years,  Louis  A.  Lebaume  was  taken  from  St.  Louis  to 
the  Richwoods  mines,  where  his  father  went  to  reside,  and  continued  there 
three  years,  and  then  the  family  removed  to  a  spot  near  the  Belle  Fon- 
taine Cemetery,  and  a  portion  of  the  place  is  now  comprised  in  a  part  of 
the  beautiful  grounds;  it  was  there  that  the  elder  Mr.  Lebaume  died.  He 
was  fortunate  in  having  his  early  education  properly  cared  for,  and  was 
sent  to  the  then  only  college  of  the  town,  situated  near  the  south-west 
corner  of  Third  and  Market  streets,  on  the  old  Alvarez  lot,  and  presided 
over  by  Bishop  Dubourg,  an  accomplished  scholar  and  an  exemplary  divine. 
He  remained  at  the  college  until  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  after  sojourn- 
ing with  his  mother  a  short  period,  he  commenced  his  business  career  by 
clerking  upon  a  steamboat,  in  which  capacity  he  continued  until  1827, 
and  then  went  to  France  to  settle  an  estate  belonging  to  his  father.  He 
remained  several  years  in  la  belle  France,  and  whilst  beneath  its  sunny 
skies,  he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  Mademoiselle  Melane  De  Lapierre, 
whose  father  was  high  in  authority,  being  president  of  the  civil  tribunal 
of  Vigan,  departement  du  Garde,  lie  was  married  to  her  on  the  20th  of 
December,  1832,  and  returned  to  St  Louis  in  the  spring  of  1833. 

He  then  formed  a  partnership  in  commercial  pursuits  with  Theodore 
Lebaume,  his  brother,  and  Jonas  Newman,  the  firm  going  under  the  name 
of  Lebaume  &  Co.  This  partnership  continued  until  1841,  when  Mr.  Le- 
baume entered  into  partnership  with  Peter  E.  Blow,  bis  brother-in-law, 
the  firm  being  Peter  E.  Blow  &  Co. 

Some  years  after,  Mr.  Lebaume  resolved  to  give  up  commercial  pur- 
suits altogether,  and  then  engaged  in  the  mining  business  with  his  brother- 
in-law,  in  Washington  county,  which  continued  until  1851.  In  this  pur- 


464  LOUIS    A.    LEBAUME. 


suit,  Mr.  Thomas  M.  Taylor  was  engaged  with  them  a  short  time.  He 
then  retired  from  the  lead  business,  which  he  had  carried  on  extensively 
for  several  years,  though  he  still  owns  the  mines. 

Mr.  Lebaume,  though  strictly  a  business  man,  and  turning  all  of  his 
business  connections  to  profitable  account,  without  being  a  politician,  or 
anxious  to  mingle  in  the  political  atmosphere,  has  been  called  upon  by 
his  fellow  citizens  to  fill  positions  of  trust  and  responsibility.  In  1841, 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  board  of  delegates,  and  in  1842,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  board  of  aldermen,  and  remained  a  member  until  he  resigned, 
in  1853,  for  the  purpose  of  going  to  Europe  to  recruit  his  health,  which 
had  much  declined.  Whilst  a  member  of  the  board  of  aldermen,  he 
strongly  opposed  the  measure  for  the  city  assisting  in  building  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  Railroad,  contending  that  eastern  capitalists  for  their  own 
sakes,  so  as  to  facilitate  more  directly  communication  with  St.  Louis, 
would  complete  the  road,  and  if  the  city  had  any  funds  to  invest  in  that 
manner,  it  should  be  in  caring  for  the  railroads  in  the  state,  which  were 
so  much  required  to  develop  fully  the  immense  resources  of  Missouri. 
He  opposed,  too,  the  depositing  of  the  city  funds,  frequently  amounting 
to  several  hundred  thousand  dollars,  with  private  bankers,  previous  to  the 
failure  of  many  of  them,  and  saved  the  city  from  an  immense  loss  in  the 
banking  business. 

As  early  as  1842,  he  introduced  a  bill  for  the  widening  of  the  levee, 
which  was  entirely  too  narrow  for  the  business  of  St.  Louis,  but  his  enter- 
prising resolution  was  not  supported,  and  not  until  1849,  after  the  great 
fire,  was  the  levee  widened,  under  the  municipal  administration  of  Mr. 
Barry ;  Mr.  Lebaume  promptly  urging  the  resolution,  and,  after  it  was 
passed,  assisting  in  drawing  the  present  line  of  the  levee.  In  1844,  he 
was  elected  to  the  legislature,  and  during  his  term  Thomas  H.  Benton 
was  elected  for  the  last  time  to  the  United  States  Senate. 

During  his  public  service,  Mr.  Lebaume  was  a  hard-working  member, 
and  all  of  his  efforts  were  directed,  uninfluenced  by  the  shallow  motives 
of  political  prejudice,  to  the  advancement  of  the  city  and  state.  When 
a  member  of  the  city  council,  an  effort  was  made  to  double  the  salary  of 
the  members,  but  Mr.  Lebaume,  assisted  by  Mr.  Palm,  satisfied  that  the 
office  should  be  one  of  honor,  and  not  of  emolument,  which  would  make 
it  too  much  of  an  object  for  the  unprincipled  and  political  harpies, 
strongly  and  effectually  resisted  the  attempt. 

He  has  two  brothers  residing  at  St.  Louis.  One  of  them,  Louis  G.  Le- 
baume, was  once  the  popular  sheriff  of  the  county,  and  Theodore  Lebaume 
for  many  years  served  as  deputy-sheriff. 

In  1851,  Mr.  Lebaume  was  elected  a  director  of  the  Gas  Company  of 
St.  Louis,  and  soon  after  the  president,  which  responsible  office  he  still 
holds.  In  1851,  he  was  elected  a  director  in  the  Pacific  Railroad,  and  in 
1855,  a  director  in  the  Boatmen's  Saving  Institution.  When  it  became 
evident  in  1859,  that  corruption  had  crept  into  the  county  court,  he  took 
a  very  active  part  in  abolishing  it.  He  is  well  known  in  the  place  of  his 
birth,  and  has  witnessed  year  by  year  the  unparalleled  growth  of  his 
native  city,  and  his  efforts  and  influence  have  done  much  for  its  prosper- 
ity. His  name  gives  strength,  with  whatever  it  is  associated,  and  any 
enterprise  with  which  he  is  connected,  almost  at  once  guarantees  the 
sanction  and  the  confidence  of  the  public. 


REV.     S.     B.     McPHEETERS. 

(p.  465.) 

ENGRAVKP   EXPRESSLY    FOR   THIS    WORK    FROM    A   PHOTOGRAPH    HY   TROXELL. 


REV.    S.    B.    McPHEETERS. 

REV.  S.  B.  MCPHEETERS  was  born  at  Raleigh,  North  Carolina,  Septem- 
ber 18th,  1819.  Dr.  William  McPheeters,  his  father,  was  a  learned  and 
eminent  divine  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  who,  for  forty  years,  was  at- 
tached to  the  ministry,  and  who  was  well  known  throughout  the  states  of 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina  as  a  popular  and  able  minister,  and  exem- 
plary in  the  practical  duties  of  Christian  life.  He  died  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
four,  and  has  seven  children  living,  three  of  whom  reside  in  St.  Louis. 
One  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch — Dr.  William  McPheeters,  who  bears 
the  name  of  his  father,  occupies  a  professor's  chair  in  the  St.  Louis  Medi- 
cal College,  and  has  been  a  resident  of  the  city  for  eighteen  years;  and 
James  G.  McPheeters,  proprietor  of  the  well-known  Excelsior  foundry. 

In  his  youth,  the  Rev.  S.  B.  McPheeters  was  a  constant  pupil  of  the 
schools  in  his  neighborhood,  and  directly  he  became  sufficiently  advanced, 
was  sent  to  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  where  he  graduated  in  1841. 
After  leaving  college,  he  determined  to  study  law,  and  read  for  eighteen 
months  under  the  instruction  of  Mr.  Manly,  an  eminent  attorney ;  but  his 
feelings  flowing  into  religious  channels,  he  felt  called  upon  to  follow  an 
apostolic  mission,  and,  uniting  with  the  church,  went  to  Princeton,  New 
Jersey,  and,  amid  the  classic  associations  of  Nassau  Hall,  he  assiduously 
devoted  himself  to  preparation  for  the  ministry.  He  remained  three 
years  at  college,  and,  on  returning  to  North  Carolina,  he  was  licensed  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Orange,  and  in  Nottaway  and  Amelia  counties  of  Vir- 
ginia, with  all  the  ardor  of  enthusiastic  feeling,  he  promulgated  the  salu- 
tary precepts  of  the  gospel. 

In  the  spring  of  1848  Mr.  McPheeters  was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery 
of  East  Hanover,  Virginia.  In  the  year  1851  he  received  an  invitation  to 
the  Westminster  church  in  St.  Louis.  He  accepted  the  call,  and  return- 
ing to  St.  Louis,  became  the  pastor  of  tho  church.  He  continued  thus 
for  two  years,  when  it  was  thought  advisable  that  a  union  should  be 
effected  between  the  Westminster  church  and  the  Pine  street  church,  and 
he  was  invited  by  the  congregations  of  the  two  churches  to  become  their 
minister.  He  acted  in  obedience  to  their  wishes,  and  still  continues  his 
duties  as  their  pastor. 

The  Rev.  S.  B.  McPheeters  was  married  to  Miss  Eliza  C.  Shanks, 
daughter  of  Colonel  Shanks,  of  Virginia.  In  the  pulpit  he  is  popular; 
his  discourse  being  impressive  and  attractive,  from  its  literary  finish  and 
the  conviction  it  enforces.  His  eloquence  is  mild  and  convincing,  free 
from  all  unhealthful  excitement,  yet  earnest  in  its  appeal.  He  is  well 
beloved  by  his  congregation,  and  performs,  to  the  utmost,  the  duties  ap- 
pertaining to  his  station. 


ISAAC    H.    STURGEON. 

ISAAC  H.  STURGEON  was  born  September  10th,  1821,  in  Jefferson 
county,  Kentucky.  His  ancestry  is  of  an  old  Pennsylvania  stock,  who 
emigrated  at  an  early  day,  and  settled  in  Kentucky,  when  it  was  a  part  of 
Virginia.  His  parents,  Thomas  Sturgeon  and  Eliza  Tyler,  were  both  born 
in  Jefferson  county,  Kentucky,  and  after  marriage  lived  upon  a  farm,  in 
comfortable  but  not  affluent  circumstances.  Thomas  Sturgeon  died  Sep- 
tember 5th,  1822,  and  eleven  years  afterward  his  wife  followed  him  to 
the  grave. 

Both  parents  gone,  the  three  orphan  children,  Edward  T.,  Isaac  H.,  and 
Thomas  L.  Sturgeon,  received  more  than  the  usual  sympathy  of  relations ; 
and  their  maternal  uncle,  Robert  Tyler,  took  them  to  his  house,  and 
charged  himself  with  their  future  welfare.  Isaac  was  the  second  in  age, 
and  had  good  advantages  of  early  mental  training.  He  went  to  a  school 
kept  by  Mr.  Robert  N.  Smith,  who  was  a  good  teacher,  and  possessed  a 
cultivated  intellect,  and  in  1837,  having  left  this  school,  young  Sturgeon 
engaged  as  a  clerk  to  Mr.  Willis  Stewart,  a  grocer  and  commission  mer- 
chant, at  a  salary  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars  per  annum. 
He  afterward  became  a  clerk  in  the  Chancery  court  at  Louisville,  where 
he  remained  for  three  years,  when  his  health  became  impaired,  and  he 
was  compelled  to  seek  out-door  employment,  and  obtained  the  situation 
of  deputy-marshal  of  said  court. 

While  Mr.  Sturgeon  was  attending  to  his  duties  as  clerk  and  deputy- 
marshal,  he  devoted  all  of  his  leisure  moments  to  the  study  of  law,  which 
he  pursued  in  the  office  of  Messrs.  Guthrie  &  Taylor.  In  1842,  business 
called  Mr.  Sturgeon  to  St.  Louis,  and  so  well  satisfied  was  he  of  its  pro- 
spective ad  vantages,  that  he  determined,  as  soon  as  he  could  make  circum- 
stances suit,  he  would  permanently  locate  hinjself  in  it.  In  1845,  he 
carried  this  design  into  execution,  in  connection  with  his  brother  Thomas. 
He  also  obtained  license  to  practice  law. 

Mr.  Sturgeon  had  not  been  long  in  St.  Louis  before  he  became  known 
through  his  enterprise  and  business  talents,  and  his  suavity  of  manner 
made  him  popular  with  all  classes  of  citizens.  He  and  his  brother,  in 
connection  with  their  own  business,  were  agents  of  his  aunt,  Mrs.  Tyler, 
who  owned  a  large  portion  of  landed  estate,  outside  of  the  populous  por- 
tion of  the  city,  in  the  new  city  limits,  and  he  went  to  Jefferson  City  to 
induce  the  legislature  to  grant  a  portion  of  the  tax-money  for  the  purpose 
of  paving  the  streets.  He  employed  all  of  his  efforts  to  effect  this  purpose, 
but  when  it  came  before  the  house,  his  prayer  was  rejected.  Not  to  be 
foiled  in  what  he  believed  a  just  request,  he  again  renewed  his  efforts, 
and,  despite  the  most  strenuous  opposition,  he  succeeded  in  carrying  his 
measure. 

When  a  boy,  he  joined  the  democratic  party,  when  the  state  of  Ken- 


ISAAC    H.    STURGEON,    ESQ., 
Assistant  United  States  Treasurer. 

(p.  469.) 

ENGRAVED  EXPKE88LY  FOE  THIS  WORK   FROM  A  PHOTOGBAPII   BY  BROWN. 


ISAAC    H.    STURGEON.  471 


tucky  was  under  whig  control,  and  has  never  for  a  moment  swerved  from 
the  political  tenets  he  advocated  in  his  youth.  In  1849  he  was  appointed 
director  of  the  Bank  of  the  state  of  Missouri  by  Governor  King,  and  was 
one  of  the  committee  appointed  to  pray  the  legislature  to  grant  one-half 
of  the  taxes  of  the  new  city  limits  during  ten  years,  for  paving  the  streets, 
and  the  prayer  was  granted  at  the  close  of  the  session,  and  all  who  hold 
real  estate  within  the  new  limits  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Sturgeon  for  the 
peculiar  privileges  which  appertain  to  their  property. 

In  1850,  Mr.  Sturgeon  was  again  elected  to  the  city  council,  and  at 
this  time,  when  the  excitement  between  the  Benton  and  anti-Benton  party 
was  at  its  height,  he  was  the  bitter  opponent  of  the  former  party,  and 
was  most  effective  in  exposing  its  inconsistencies,  and  defeating  its  favorite 
measures.  He  went  to  Washington  City  on  business,  and  while  there,  con- 
trary to  his  wishes  and  instructions,  he  was  nominated  by  the  anti-Benton 
party  for  the  state  senate,  but  the  whole  ticket  was  defeated.  Mr.  Stur- 
geon did  not  see  any  of  his  constituents  until  after  the  election,  being 
detained  at  the  seat  of  government.  However,  in  1852  he  was  again 
nominated  by  the  same  party,  and  at  the  ensuing  election  was  elected  by 
a  large  majority. 

On  going  to  Jefferson  City  the  ensuing  November,  he  met  with  one  of 
those  pleasant  surprises  which  seldom  occur  in  a  lifetime,  and  which 
cause  the  heart  to  overflow  with  emotions  of  gladness.  Mr.  Smith,  his 
old  tutor  in  Kentucky,  had  also  arrived  at  the  capital  of  the  state,  to  take 
his  seat  as  a  member  of  the  legislature,  and  being  brought  together  under 
these  circumstances  afforded  each  more  true  joy  thanmny  success  of  party 
or  public  ovation.  Both  of  them  had  immigrated  to  Missouri,  and  both 
had  been  called  to  honorable  positions. 

Whilst  a  member  of  the  senate,  Mr.  Sturgeon  took  a  conspicuous  part 
in  all  of  the  great  measures  of  the  day.  He  was  made  chairman  of  the 
committee  on  banks  and  corporations,  also  of  ways  and  means,  and  was  a 
great  friend  of  the  north  Missouri  and  south-west  branch  of  the  Pacific 
railroad.  He  took  strong  grounds  against  banks  of  issue,  believing  that 
paper  issue  has  only  the  tendency  to  make  times  easier  in  the  season  of  gen- 
eral confidence,  and  where  confidence  is  shaken  to  make  them  harder.  He 
received  his  present  appointment  as  assistant  treasurer  of  the  United  States 
at  St.  Louis  from  Mr.  Pierce,  and  subsequently  was  appointed  by  Mr. 
Buchanan.  He  has  filled  many  high  positions  of  trust.  He  has  been  five 
times  president  of  the  North  Missouri  Railroad,  member  of  the  state  senate 
and  city  council,  director  of  the  Southern  Bank,  and  his  present  ap- 
pointment shows  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  by  the  general  govern- 
ment. 

Mr.  Sturgeon  was  married  December  16th,  1858,  to  Miss  Nannie  Celeste 
Allen,  second  daughter  of  the  late  Beverly  Allen.  As  a  politician,  his 
course  has  always  been  noble,  frank  and  consistent,  and  as  a  man  his  life 
has  been  made  up  with  acts  of  kindness  to  others,  and  in  neglecting  no 
duty  incumbent  upon  him  to  perform. 
21 


JOHN    D.    DAGGETT. 

JOHN  D.  DAGGETT  was  born  at  Attleborough,  Massachusetts,  October 
4th,  1793.  His  father,  Benjamin  Daggett,  was  a  respectable  merchant,  and 
his  ancestors  are  all  of  English  origin.  When  very  young,  John  became  an 
inmate  of  the  little  village  school  of  Attleborough,  where  he  was  kept, 
according  to  the  practical  customs  of  the  times,  until  he  became  strong 
enough  to  do  something  for  his  own  livelihood.  At  the  age  of  thirteen, 
his  father  died,  and  he  was  taken  from  school  and  put  to  learn  the  trade 
of  a  machinist,  and  during  the  time  he  was  thus  engaged,  his  ingenuity 
was  such,  that  he  undertook,  while  yet  a  youth,  the  manufacture  of  musket- 
locks  for  the  army  at  Pautucket  in  1812,  which  he  accomplished  with 
entire  satisfaction. 

In  1814,  John  D.  Daggett  determined,  after  the  fashion  of  most  of  the 
young  ambitious  Yankees,  to  quit  his  home  and  seek  his  fortunes  abroad. 
He  first  went  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  pursued  for  a  little  while  his  trade, 
and  after  remaining  there  for  a  year  he  went  to  Pittsburg  and  engaged  as 
salesman  in  a  tin  and  copper  store.  He  soon  again  changed  his  place  of 
business,  and  then  commenced  as  clerk  in  a  silver-plating  establishment. 
While  engaged  in  that  capacity,  his  employer,  struck  with  his  ingenuity 
and  general  ability,  made  him  superintendent  of  the  whole  establishment. 
His  time  was  then  piofitably  and  pleasantly  employed,  but  he  was  solicited 
by  Reuben  Neal,  who  first  employed  him  when  he  came  to  Pittsburg,  to 
accompany  him  to  St.  Louis.  Having  wished  for  some  time  to  go  to  St. 
Louis,  he  agreed  to  the  offer  of  Mr.  Neal,  and  started  for  St.  Louis  with  a 
boat  well  laden  with  tin  and  copper-ware,  and  a  variety  of  goods  of  this 
kind.  He  went  down  the  Ohio  and  then  up  the  Wabash  to  Vincennes, 
where  he  disposed  of  his  merchandise  in  a  most  profitable  manner,  and 
came  across  on  horseback  to  St.  Louis. 

The  St.  Louis  of  1817  bore  but  little  resemblance  to  the  St.  Louis  of 
the  present  time.  •  There  was  no  town  west  of  Third  street,  and  though 
most  persons  thought  it  a  growing  town,  the  most  sanguine  could  not 
have  hoped  that  it  would,  in  so  short  a  time,  reach  the  magnitude  and  ap- 
pearance it  now  presents.  Mr.  Daggett,  however,  liked  the  appearance  of 
the  town,  and  resolved  to  accept  the  offer  which  Mr.  Neal  made  to  him 
of  taking  general  charge  in  superintending  his  business,  which  he  estab- 
lished in  the  tin  and  copper  line  on  quite  an  extensive  scale.  He  remained 
with  Mr.  Neal  three  years  and  a  half,  when,  having  gathered  some  capital, 
he  resolved  to  go  into  business  for  himself,  and  forming  a  partnership,  he 
commenced  the  commission  business,  the  firm  being  Daggett  &  Haldman. 
This  continued  until  1822,  when  the  firm  dissolved,  and  Mr.  Daggett  went 
into  the  general  merchandising,  and  remained  in  that  connection  for  eight 
years. 

All  of  the  varieties  of  business  that  he  pursued  he  made  lucrative  by 
giving  them  his  undivided  attention,  and  conducting  them  in  legitimate 
channels,  never  having  ventured  in  the  uncertain  depths  of  hazardous 
speculation.  He  was  always  contented  with  his  profits,  though  slow,  and 
day  by  day  there  was  a  gradual  but  healthful  growth  to  his  fortune. 


JOHN    D.    DAGGETT,    ESQ. 

(p.  473.) 

RNGRAVED   EXPRESSLY   FOR   THIS   WORK   PROM   A   PIIOTOOUAPII    BY   TKOXKLL. 


JOHN   D.    DAGGETT.  475 


On  quitting  the  general  merchandising  business,  as  it  was  affecting  his 
health,  Mr.  Daggett  was  in  possession  of  considerable  capital,  and  he  went 
into  the  steamboat  business,  purchasing  an  interest  in  a  steamboat,  and 
then  serving  upon  her,  either  in  the  capacity  of  captain  or  clerk.  He  ran 
principally  between  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans,  and  was  at  one  time  in 
the  command  of  the  steamer  Oceana,  which,  when  first  built,  was  the 
most  beautiful  boat  that  floated  upon  the  Mississippi.  He  remained  six 
years  in  steamboating,  which,  like  every  thing  he  undertook,  yielded  him 
certain  profit  and  enlarged  his  fortune. 

On  releasing  himself  from  this  pursuit,  Mr.  Daggett  purchased  an  inter- 
est in  the  Sectional  Floating  Dock  Company,  and  became  the  general  agent 
and  superintendent  of  the  business  of  the  corporation.  While  engaged 
in  this  business,  it  occurred  to  him  there  should  be  another  company  in 
existence,  and  when  the  time  was  ripe  for  such  a  corporation,  through  his 
instrumentality  the  Floating  Dock  Insurance  Company  was  established, 
which  may  be  said  to  be  the  natural  production  of  the  other ;  of  this 
company  he  was  for  a  long  time  director  and  president.  This  corporation 
has  thriven  since  it  has  come  into  existence,  wields  a  large  capital,  and 
exercises  considerable  influence. 

Though  domestic  in  his  habits,  and  giving  all  of  his  time  to  his  busi- 
ness pursuits,  in  1841  the  whig  party  nominated  him  against  his  will  for 
mayor,  and  he  may  be  said  to  have  been  dragged  into  the  political 
contest.  He  was  elected  ;  for  the  people  had  all  confidence  in  his  integ- 
rity and  knew  him  to  be  a  working  man,  so  different  from  those  who  pursue 
politics  as  a  profession  and  who  seek  office  with  no  other  intention  but  to 
make  what  spoil  they  can  out  of  it.  After  his  term  as  mayor  expired, 
Mr.  Daggett  never  again  ventured  into  the  political  field,  for  the  turbulent 
confusion  of  which  his  inclination  and  habits  of  life  were  so  unsuitable. 

Mr.  Daggett  was  married  February  10th,  1821,  to  Miss  Sarah  Sparks, 
daughter  of  Samuel  Sparks,  Esq.,  of  Maine.  He  has  been  identified  with 
a  variety  of  different  pursuits  and  been  successful  in  all.  He  is  friendly  in 
his  relations  with  everyone, discriminating  in  his  judgment,  and  possesses 
that  quality  so  rare  in  these  days  of  vanity,  a  diffidence  as  to  his  own 
worth.  He  has  held  other  positions  of  trust  than  those  we  have  men- 
tioned, for  his  connection  with  any  business  gives  it  additional  weight  and 
importance  tjefore  the  community.  He  has  been  a  director  in  the 
Citizens'  Insurance  Company,  and  president  of  the  Gas  Company  ;  also 
one  of  its  corporators,  and  served  some  time  as  secretary  and  treasurer. 
He  resigned  his  office  in  favor  of  Mr.  Edward  Stagg,  the  efficient  secre- 
tary of  the  company.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen 
for  two  years,  and  was  also  street  commissioner. 

Mr.  Daggett  has  for  forty  years  been  connected  with  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity, and  has  held  every  office  conferred  by  the  order  in  the  state  of 
Missouri,  and  is  now  the  treasurer  of  five  distinct  Masonic  lodges. 

In  the  decline  of  his  life,  Mr.  Daggett  possesses  an  ample  fortune,  which 
he  deserves  to  enjoy,  for  he  has  made  it  in  legitimate  channels.  He  com- 
menced life  a  poor  boy,  and  what  friends  he  has  since  made,  what  worldly 
goods  he  has  since  gathered,  have  been  the  natural  consequence  of  probity 
of  character  and  an  untiring  devotion  to  business  pursuits.  He  has  truly 
been  the  architect  of  his  own  fortune,  and  his  success  teaches  an  instruct- 
ive and  useful  lesson  to  posterity. 


REV.  TRUMAN  MARCELLUS  POST. 

THIS  well-known  author  and  divine  was  born  June  3d,  1810,  at  Middle- 
bury,  Vermont.  Roswell  Post,  his  grandfather,  was  a  native  of  Connecti- 
cut, and  was  one  of  the  brave  band  commanded  by  Ethan  Allen,  in  his 
attack  upon  Ticonderoga,  and  took  an  active  part  afterward  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary War,  being  present  at  the  battle  of  Bennington,  and  rendering 
other  important  services  to  his  country  at  this  critical  period.  The  father 
of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  a  member  of  the  legal  profession,  at 
Midcllebury,  and  at  one  time  was  a  clerk  of  the  legislature  of  Vermont. 
He  €lied  early  in  life,  in  1811,  leaving  three  children,  the  youngest  of 
whom  was  the  subject  of  this  biography,  then  an  infant. 

T.  M.  Post  received  a  good  education,  and  early  evinced  a  predisposition 
to  study,  and  a  love  of  literature.  He  was  happy  when  surrounded  by 
his  books ;  but  when  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age,  his  sensitive  nature 
received  a  check,  which  stopped  the  flow  of  the  genial  feelings  incident 
to  youth,  and  filled  his  heart  with  sadness.  He  had  to  exile  himself  from 
his  mother's  roof,  on  account  of  a  disagreement  with  his  step-father,  and, 
at  that  early  age  had  to  become  an  actor  in  the  drama  of  life.  He,  how- 
ever, continued  to  prosecute  his  studies,  and  in  1829  graduated,  with  the 
highest  honors  of  his  class,  at  Middlebury  College,  Vermont;  and  then, 
afterward,  became  tutor,  which  still  more  thoroughly  accomplished  him 
in  his  studies.  He  then  commenced  the  study  of  law,  and,  having  quali- 
fied himself  in  his  profession,  came  West  in  1833. 

Mr.  Post  was  an  accomplished  scholar,  and  was  appointed  Professor  of 
Ancient  Languages  in  Illinois  College,  which  position,  in  connection  with 
the  Chair  of  History,  he  held  till  1847.  During  that  time  two  important 
events  occurred.  In  1836,  he  was  married  to  Miss'Frances  A.  Henshaw, 
of  Middlebury,  Vermont,  whose  ancestors  came  early  to  this  country,  a 
portion  under  the  Protectorate,  in  1653,  and  another  portion  in  1620,  in 
the  "Mayflower."  In  1840, he  was  appointed  to  take  the  pastoral  charge 
of  the  Congregational  Church  at  Jacksonville,  Illinois,  where  te  remained 
until  1847  ;  and  then,  from  repeated  solicitations,  consented  to  take  charge 
of  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church  at  St.  Louis,  for  four  years.  Since  that 
time  has  expired,  he  has  ministered  to  the  Congregational  Church. 

The  talents  of  Mr.  Post,  as  a  pastor,  are  of  a  very  high  order.  He  is 
engaging  in  his  manner,  earnest  in  the  delivery  of  his  sermons,  and  his 
language  flows  with  that  grace  and  polish  so  significant  of  profound  schol- 
arship. He  is  also  an*author,  and  his  productions  have  justly  an  extensive 
reputation. 


REV.     TRUMAN    MARCELLUS    POST. 

(p.  4TT.) 

ENGRAVED   EXPRESSLY    FOB   THIS   WORK   FROM    A    PHOTOGRAPH   BY    BROWN- 


WILLIAM    T.    CHRISTY,    ESQ. 

(p.  479.) 

ENGRAVED    EXPRK8SLT   FOE    THIS  WORK   FROM    A   PHOTOGRAPH   BY   BROWN. 


WILLIAM  T.  CHRISTY. 

WM.  T.  CHRISTY  was  born  June  20,  1803,  in  Clarke  county,  Kentucky. 
Both  of  his  grandfathers  were  natives  of  Virginia,  and,  animated  by  the 
wild  spirit  of  independence  so  characteristic  of  the  first  settlers,  started  for 
Kentucky,  and  located  near  Georgetown  and  Boonesborough,  of  that  state, 
when  the  savages,  with  all  of  their  murderous  instincts  in  full  action,  were 
waging  war  upon  that  soil,  which,  to  this  day,  is  known  as  "the 'Bloody 
Ground."  Though  risking  all  things  themselves,  they  did  not  remove  their 
families  to  the  state  until  1785,  when  the  Indians  had  been  driven  from 
the  hunting-ground,  which,  for  years,  they  had  fought  with  the  fury  of 
dtemons  to  maintain.  It  was  on  the  "  Bloody  Ground"  that  the  subject  of 
this  memoir  was  born,  and,  in  his  childhood,  he  has  often  heard  some  of 
the  old  pioneers  relate  scraps  of  the  fearful  history  connected  with  that 
period. 

The  education  of  young  Christy  was  confined  to  the  country  school- 
house,  which  any  boy  of  quick  parts  could  soon  exhaust  of  its  mental 
supply;  and,  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  he  entered  the  store  of  his  elder  bro- 
ther, at  Winchester,  Ky.,  and  there  remained,  until  1817,  when  his  brother 
gave  up  his  business  from  declining  health.  After  the  death  of  his  brother, 
he  sought  employment  in  Richmond  of  the  same  state,  and  was  taken  into 
the  service  of  J.  A.  Grimes,  with  whom  he  remained  a  year;  and  then 
repaired  to  Glasgow,  Barren  county,  where  he  entered  the  store  of  his 
namesake  and  kinsman,  Wm.  T.  Bush,  and  sojourned  with  him  for  three 
years.  Leaving  Glasgow,  he  went  to  Louisville,  and  was  engaged  as  book- 
keeper for  Messrs.  Duncan,  Dobbin  &  Co.  He  did  not  remain  long  in 
his  new  situation,  but,  having  formed  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  James  Falls, 
a  warm  friendship  sprung  up  between  them,  and  this  was  followed  by  a 
business  alliance ;  and  the  two,  with  a  capital  of  $3,500,  entered  business 
in  Russelville. 

Mr.  Christy  went  on  to  Philadelphia,  to  purchase  goods,  and,  in  these 
times  such  a  journey  was  to  be  dreaded,  as,  from  Kentucky  to  Baltimore, 
it  had  to  be  performed  on  horseback.  On  this  journey,  he  met  with  an 
accident,  which  compelled  him  to  make  his  debut  as  a  merchant,  in  the 
streets  of  Philadelphia,  on  crutches. 

The  career  of  the  new  firm,  Falls  &  Christy,  established  in  Russelville 
in  the  autumn  of  1822,  was  a  prosperous  one,  although  a  deranged  and 
fictitious  currency  kept  the  young  men  in  a  continual  alarm,  as  the  paper 
money,  even  in  the  season  of  comparative  confidence,  was  fifty  per  cent, 
when  exchanged  for  specie.  Believing,  however,  that  Tennessee  offered 
greater  inducements  for  business,  the  firm  removed  their  stock  to  Mur- 
freesboro',  where  they  entered  upon  a  lucrative  trade,  which  continued  for 


482  WILLIAM *T.    CHRISTY. 


four  years ;  and,  at  the  expiration  of  that  time,  Mr.  Falls  having  married 
in  Nashville,  and  wishing  to  reside  in  that  city,  he  offered  to  sell  out  his 
interest  to  Mr.  Christy,  which  was  accepted.  The  partnership  had  sub- 
sisted for  six  years,  and  Mr.  Christy  frequently  alludes  to  the  rare  business 
qualities  and  sterling  worth  of  the  partner  of  his  early  years,  who  is  now 
deceased. 

After  the  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Falls,  Mr.  Christy  determined,  if  possible, 
to  induce  Mr.  James  Woods  to  enter  with  him  in  business  relations,  as  he 
bad  known  him  for  several  years,  and  thought  him  a  proper  substitute  for 
the  partner  who  had  retired.  Mr.  Woods  accepted  the  invitation,  and  the 
firm  of  Wm.  T.  Christy  &  Co.  was  well  known  for  years  in  the  vicinity, 
by  the  extent  of  their  business,  and  enjoyed  the  unlimited  confidence  of 
the  people.  In  1836,  the  firm  had  amassed  so  considerable  a  fortune, 
that  their  capital  became  unwieldy  in  so  small  a  place,  and  they  deter- 
mined on  removing  to  St.  Louis,  where  they  could  extend,  ad  libitum, 
their  business.  At  this  time  a  younger  brother  of  Mr.  Christy's  was 
admitted  into  the  concern,  and  then  the  name  which  the  firm  now  bears, 
Woods,  Christy  &  Co.,  was  adopted.  The  new  firm  was  started  in  St. 
Louis  in  the  spring  of  1837,  and  had  but  fairly  entered  upon  the  new 
theatre  of  action,  before  the  muttering  indications,  which  had  been  heard 
for  some  time,  in  the  financial  world,  grew  louder  and  more  threatening, 
and  at  last  the  storm  burst  with  a  fury  unknown  before  in  the  business 
annals  of  the  country,  and  many  of  the  old  established  houses  tottered  and 
fell,  never  to  rise  again.  The  house  of  Woods,  Christy  &  Co.  survived 
amid  the  almost  general  ruin,  and  from  that  period  to  the  present  time, 
has  done  a  most  extensive*  and  lucrative  business,  and  is  well  known  to 
the  commercial  community.  In  1857,  it  again  had  to  sustain  the  financial 
earthquake,  which  shook,  with  ruinous  effect,  both  this  country  and  Europe  ; 
but  it  stood  the  shock  unscathed. 

In  1832,  Mr.  Christy  married  Ellen  P.,  daughter  of  Calvin  and  Sarah 
Morgan,  of  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  and  has  had  seven  children,  five  of  whom  are 
now  living.  Amid  the  absorbing  pursuits  of  business  life,  Mr.  Christy  has 
been  attentive  to  his  religious  duties,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  He  has  been  connected  with  several  insurance  com- 
panies, and,  for  sixteen  years,  has  been  a  director  of  the  Bank  of  Missouri. 
He  has  established  a  reputation  of  which  any  one  may  be  proud ;  and,  for 
his  moral  and  business  worth,  there  is  no  man  better  known  in  St.  Louis, 
or  more  highly  estimated  as  a  citizen. 


THOMAS    A      BUCK  LAND,    ESQ. 

(,>.  488.) 

ENGRAVKO   KXPRK8RI.V    FOR   THIS   WORK    FROM    A    PHOTOGRAPH   BY   TROXELU 


THOMAS   A.  BUCKLAND. 

HE  who  has  reaped  a  plenteous  harvest  in  the  field  where  he  has 
labored,  and  has  won  an  honorable  name  in  the  community  where  he  has 
lived,  well  deserves  a  biography  ;  and  the  events  of  his  life  furnish  a  use- 
ful lesson  to  posterity. 

The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born  in  the  county  of  Sussex,  England. 
His  parents  belonged  to  the  honest  yeomanry  of  that  country,  who  brought 
up  their  children  to  habits  of  industry,  and  early  instilled  into  them  the 
love  and  practice  of  the  moral  attributes.  They  gave  their  children  a 
practical  education,  and  then  set  them  to  work  in  some  suitable  business. 
Thomas,  after  receiving  his  share  of  schooling,  was  sent  to  learn  the  mill- 
ing business,  and  his  father,  for  this  privilege,  had  to  pay  his  instructor  the 
sum  of  five  hundred  dollars.  He  remained  under  instruction  for  three 
years  and  a  half,  and  taking  the  fever  of  emigration,  which  everywhere 
spread  around  him,  he  started  for  the  city  of  New  York,  where  he  arrived 
in  1836.  From  there  he  went  to  Rochester  on  a  tour  of  observation,  and, 
after  a  short  sojourn,  seeing  nothing  attractive  in  the  way  of  business  pur- 
suits, which  he  thought  would  quickly  remunerate  his  efforts,  he  started 
for  St.  Louis,  which  had  commenced  making  some  noise  in  the  commer- 
cial world.  While  on  his  way,  he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Charles 
Todd,  on  board  of  a  steamboat,  and  a  friendship  was  cemented  between 
the  two,  which  exists  to  the  present  time,  and  has  extended  to  other  por- 
tions of  the  family. 

At  that  time,  there  were  but  two  mills  in  St.  Louis,  and  Mr.  Buckland 
determined  on  visiting  the  flourishing  cities  on  the  Mississippi,  before  per- 
manently locating  himself.  He  was  at  Quincy,  Naples,  and  other  places, 
and,  at  the  former  place,  while  he  was  waiting  for  the  materials  to  be 
brought,  to  repair  a  mill,  the  work  which  he  had  engaged  to  do,  he  went 
to  mauling  rails,  so  as  not  to  lose,  in  idleness,  time  which  could  be  profitable, 
devoted  to  other  pursuits. 

Leaving  all  of  these  towns,  with  the  conviction  that  St.  Louis  furnished 
the  best  opening  for  the  thorough  business  man,  he  returned,  and  engaged 
as  miller  with  Daniel  D.  Page,  the  most  extensive  milling  merchant  in  the 
place.  His  salary  was  $600  per  annum,  and  found  in  board.  Leaving 
this  situation,  Mr.  Buckland  went  to  La  Grange,  where  he  built  a  mill,  and 
carried  it  on  for  the  six  ensuing  years.  Then,  quitting  La  Grange,  he  came 
again  to  St.  Louis,  and  there  purchased  the  Park  Mills,  then  a  diminutive 
concern,  and  no  more  like  the  present  Park  Mills,  than  a  pigmy  is  like  a 
giant.  It  was  burnt,  and  then  built  in  its  present  improved  style,  in 
1849.  Mr.  Buckland,  even  in  his  early  days,  when  his  battle  with  the 
world  was  the  strongest,  supported  his  mother  and  his  sister,  and  has 
since  educated  three  of  his  brother's  children,  sending  them  to  the  first 
institutions  and  colleges. 

Mr.  Buckland  has  been  very  active  in  the  fire  department,  and  has 
passed  through  all  the  different  grades  of  office,  from  a  runner  with  the 
engine  to  being  president  of  the  Firemen's  Association.  He  took  a  very 


486  THOMAS    A.    BUCKLAND. 

active  part  in  the  adoption  of  the  steam-engine  in  the  department,  and, 
also,  in  giving  pay  to  the  firemen.  He  was  the  first  who  advocated  the 
necessity  of  a  Millers'  Exchange,  now  known  as  the  Merchants'  Exchange, 
and  is  connected  with  some  of  the  most  important  corporations  of  the  city, 
lie  was  one  of  the  corporators  of  the  Millers  and  Manufacturers'  Insurance 
Company,  also  a  director ;  director  in  the  Mechanics'  Bank ;  in  the  West- 
ern River  Wrecking  Company ;  in  the  Masonic  Hall  Association,  also 
treasurer;  and,  also,  vice-president  of  the  St.  Louis  Mutual  Building 
Association.  His  name  is  a  tower  of  strength  in  every  enterprise  with 
which  he  is  connected. 


EDWARD    WALSH,    ESQ. 

i  p.  4ST.) 

BNORAVRP  KXPKKSSI.Y  FOR  THIS  WORK   FROM  A  PHOTOGRAPH   BY  BROWN. 


EDWARD    WA'LSH. 

THE  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born  in  the  county  of  Tipperary,  Ire- 
land, December  27th,  1798.  His  father  was  an  industrious  farmer  having 
a  large  family  of  children,  eleven  in  number,  all  of  whom  he  raised  in  the 
habits  of  industry  and  economy.  He  sent  his  children  to  school  until  they 
were  large  enough  to  fill  a  situation,  and  they  were  then  put  to  some 
employment. 

Young  Edward  Walsh  was  suffered  to  remain  at  school  until  twelve 
years  of  age,  and  was  then  put  into  the  store  of  a  cousin,  where  he  re- 
mained for  four  years.  After  the  expiration  of  that  period,  he  went  into 
business  with  his  brother,  who  kept  a  mill  and  brewing  establishment, 
where  he  staid  until  1818,  when  he  received  a  letter  from  his  cousin  in 
Louisville,  which  determined  him  to  exile  himself  from  the  green  fields  of 
Erin  and  seek  a  home  in  the  United  States  of  America,  where  the  in- 
stitutions were  not  under  royal  control,  and  where  the  prospects  of  success 
in  the  business  walks  of  life  were  so  much  more  flattering.  He  made 
hasty  preparations  for  his  journey,  and  departing  from  his  native  land, 
reached  New  Y.ork  June  7th,  1818. 

In  those  early  days  the  iron  horse  was  not  known,  and  all  long  journeys 
had  to  be  performed  on  horseback  ;  and  it  was  on  horseback  that  Edward 
Walsh  performed  his  journey  from  Baltimore  to  Pittsburg,  at  which  place 
he  got  a  flat-boat  and  took  passage  to  Louisville,  and  arrived  there,  after 
a  tedious  passage  on  the  Ohio,  of  forty  days.  At  that  time  Louisville  did 
not  have  the  hygienic  celebrity  it  now  enjoys,  and  was  known,  on  the  con- 
trary, as  being  the  seat  of  malignant  maladies,  which  circumstance  influ- 
enced Edward  Walsh  to  leave  the  town  and  start  for  Missouri.  He  came 
to  St.  Louis  in  October  1818,  and  after  understanding  well  the  neighbor- 
ing localities,  he  determined  to  settle  at  St.  Genevieve  county,  where  he 
put  up  a  mill.  In  this  pursuit  he  remained  engaged  at  St.  Genevieve  very 
profitably  until  1824,  when  he  sold  out  his  business,  and  after  a  little 
time  spent  in  St.  Louis  in  determining  upon  another  suitable  location,  he 
went  to  Madison  county,  where  he  again  engaged  in  the  mill  business,  but 
remaining  but  a  short  time,  he  again  sold  out  and  returned  to  St.  Louis. 

At  that  time  Edward  Walsh  determined  upon  changing  his  pursuit, 
and,  in  partnership  with  his  brother,  entered  upon  the  general  merchand- 
ising business,  the  firm  being  known  as  J.  &  E.  Walsh.  Not  being  partial 
to  his  new  vocation,  in  1831  he  sold  out  his  interest  and  commenced  mill- 
ing on  a  large  scale  in  St.  Louis,  having  three  mills,  one  of  which  is  still 
running,  and  having  been  in  constant  operation  since  1827,  has  manufac- 
tured more  flour  than  any  other  mill  in  St.  Louis. 

As  a  miller,  as  in  every  thing  else,  Edward  Walsh  was  successful,  and 
he  then  became  connected  with  the  steamboat  business,  and  so  largely  at 


490  EDWARD    WALSH. 


one  time,  that  he  had  invested  more  than  $100,000.  He  possessed  an 
interest  in  some  of  the  finest  boats  that  landed  on  the  levee  of  St.  Louis. 
He  has  also  dealt  largely  in  lead,  which,  by  the  alchemical  virtues  of  in- 
dustry and  judgment,  he  transmuted  into  golden  profits  for  himself. 

In  writing  the  biography  of  Edward  Walsh,  we  feel  it  a  bounden  duty 
to  pay  a  passing  tribute  to  the  worth  and  merits  of  his  brother,  John 
Walsh,  now  deceased,  with  whom  he  was  identified  so  many  years  in 
business  pursuits. 

John  Walsh,  during  his  life'was  esteemed  for  his  business  capacity,  and 
those  pure  principles  of  character  which  go  to  make  up  the  truly  hon- 
orable man.  He  was  not  only  successful  in  his  business  calling,  but  he 
was  emphatically  a  lover  of  the  human  family — known  for  his  benevolence 
and  his  charities,  and  endeared  to  a  large  circle  of  friends.  He  has  shuf- 
fled off  his  "  mortal  coil,"  but  his  virtues  live  after  him ;  and  when  the 
name  of  John  Walsh  is  now  mentioned,  it  is  with  that  respect  which  a 
character  so  pure  as  his  so  well  deserves  from  posterity. 

Mr.  Walsh  has  been  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Miss  Maria 
Tucker,  whom  he  married  in  1822,  and  his  present  wife,  whom  he  mar- 
ried February  1 1th,  1840,  was  Miss  Julia  Denum.  He  has  been  connected 
with  many  of  our  public  institutions,  for  his  name  has  good  weight  and 
strength  in  the  business  world,  and  is  an  important  auxiliary  to  any  thing 
fo  which  it  is  attached.  Since  the  first  establishment  of  the  Bank  of  the 
State  of  Missouri,  he  has  been  one  of  its  directors.  He  was  also  a  director 
in  the  old  Missouri  Insurance  Company,  and  is  a  director  of  the  Union 
Insurance  Company. 

Mr.  Walsh's  business  capacities  are  second  to  no  one  in  St.  Louis.  He 
has  a  judgment  that  never  errs  in  its  calculation,  and  an  .industry  that  is 
untiring  in  its  pursuit  of  business.  He  commenced  the  world  without  the 
gifts  of  fortune  or  the  aid  of  auspicious  patronage,  but  made  his  way  to 
wealth  and  influence  by  his  own  efforts,  and  is  indebted  to  no  extraneous 
aid  for  their  possession.  When  a  boy  he  came  to  a  new  continent,  and 
without  any  adventitious  aid  has  become  one  of  the  leading  business  men 
in  the  state  of  his  adoption. 


JONATHAN    JONES,    ERQ 

(p.  491.) 

ENGRAVED   EXPRESSLY   FOR  THIS   WORK   FROM    A    PHOTOGRAPH   BY  TROXEI.U 


JONATHAN    JONES. 

JONATHAN  JONES  was  born  near  Oxford,  state  of  Ohio,  August  5th,  1813. 
His  parents,  David  and  Maria  Jones,  were  of  Welsh  descent,  and  came 
from  Pennsylvania  to  Ohio  at  an  early  day,  and  in  1815  removed  to 
Cincinnati.  In  that  city  Mr.  Jones  followed  the  carpenter  business  for 
thirty  years,  and  died  in  1846.  Jonathan  Jones  is  one  of  the  four  children 
now  surviving  out  of  the  eighteen  children  which  blessed  the  union  of  his 
parents.  His  industrious  father  early  inculcated  in  him  a  spirit  of  indus- 
try, and  up  to  the  age  of  fifteen  he  spent  much  of  his  time  in  assisting  him 
in  his  shop.  The  advantages  he  had  for  education  were  limited,  though 
in  a  short  time  he  knew  all  that  the  country  school  could  teach  him. 

Some  natures  ripen  into  manhood  early,  and  Jonathan  was  anxious  to 
get  into  a  business  where  he  could  commence  a  beginning  on  the  future. 
With  the  consent  of  his  father,  he  engaged  in  the  store  of  Timothy  D. 
Rose,  and  in'  a  short  time,  by  his  business  capacities,  succeeded  to  the 
possession  of  the  store  of  his  employer,  in  conjunction  with  Thomas  B. 
Anderson. 

Many  years  of  habitual  attention  to  a  lucrative  business  did  not  satisfy 
Mr.  Jones.  All  of  his  leisure  time  he  had  devoted  to  mental  culture, 
and,  having  stored  his  mind  with  useful  knowledge,  he  determined  to 
put  into  execution  what  had  always  been  the  darling  wish  of  his  soul — 
the  cravings  of  his  nature — he  determined  on  becoming  a  teacher.  Having 
well  matured  his  plan,  he  quickly  brought  it  to  completion,  and  established 
the  first  commercial  college  on  the  new  system  that  was  known  in  the 
West. 

In  1841,  Mr.  Jones  came  to  St.  Louis,  and  "Jones's  well-known  Com- 
mercial College"  soon  became  incorporated  by  an  act  of  the  legislature  of 
Missouri,  and  is  one  of  the  most  popular  institutions  of  the  state.  Mr. 
Jones  has  left  his  mark  upon  the  times  in  which  he  has  lived.  His  motto 
has  been  "  Excelsior,"  and  his  conduct  in  life  has  corresponded  to  his 
maxim.  He  is  of  untiring  industry.  He  attends  to  his  college  and  his 
farm,  preaches  every  Sunday  in  a  Christian  church,  and  sometimes  during 
the  week;  and  is  a  member  of  the  St.  Louis  bar — all  of  his  duties  he 
properly  fulfils. 

Mr.  Jones  was  wedded  in  early  life  to  Rebecca,  daughter  of  Isaac 
Wallace,  of  Cincinnati,  and  resides  on  his  handsome  farm,  a  few  miles 
from  St.  Louis.  He  is  one  of  the  few  men  who  live  to  some  purpose,  and 
whose  works  will  live  after  them.  There  are  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis  more 
than  a  thousand  of  its  business  men  who  have  been  educated  under  his 
improved  system  of  book-keeping,  and  are  living  testimonials  of  his  use- 
fulness. 


F.    L.    RIDGELY, 

PRESIDENT    OF   THE    BOARD    OF    UNDERWRITERS. 

THIS  well-known  gentleman  was  born  in  the  city  of  Baltimore,  October 
21st,  1803.  Noah  and  Hannah  Ridgely,  his  parents,  were  respectable  per- 
sons in  humble  circumstances  in  Baltimore,  having  sufficient  to  procure 
for  their  family  all  of  the  necessary  comforts,  but  nothing  to  justify  any 
indulgence  of  luxurious  taste,  or  any  relaxation  of  habits  of  untiring  in- 
dustry. Consequently,  directly  the  family  had  acquired  a  sufficiency 
of  education  to  fit  them  for  business  pursuits,  they  were  immediately  put 
to  pursue  some  honest  avocation. 

F.  L.  Ridgely,  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  was  kept  at  school  until  seven- 
teen years  of  age,  arid  then  learn-ed  his  first  practical  lessons  of  business, 
as  clerk,  in  the  store  of  Ridgely  &  Edgar.  After  remaining  in  that 
capacity  for  some  time,  he  started  for  the  West  Indies  and  Spanish  Main, 
on  a  trading  voyage,  in  which  he  was  engaged  for  two  years,  and  en- 
tered into  the  South  American  trade,  where  he  was  successful. 

After  releasing  himself  from  these  commercial  pursuits,  Mr.  Ridgely,  in 
1828,  at  the  solicitation  of  his  brother,  Dr.  Richard  Ridgely,  who  was 
about  paying  a  visit  to  his  uncle,  Mr.  Nicholas  Ridgely,  then  of  St. 
Louis,  and  now  a  wealthy  citizen  of  Springfield,  Illinois,  determined  to 
see  the  Western  country,  concerning  which  he  had  heard  such  marvellous 
accounts.  In  this  trip,  he  visited  St.  Louis,  and  so  pleased  was  he  with 
the  briskness  of  its  business  aspect,  that  he  made  up  his  mind  to  locate 
himself  in  the  fast-growing  city.  He  commenced  first  as  clerk  on  the 
steamboat  "Missouri,"  where  he  remained  two  years;  he  then  associated 
himself  with  Mr.  J.  H.  Gay  for  three  years,  when  he  retired  from  busi- 
ness, which  had  yielded  during  that  time,  very  handsome  business 
returns. 

Mr.  Ridgely,  after  giving  up  business,  again  connected  himself  with 
steamboats,  and,  as  clerk,  captain,  and  owner,  remained  in  the  business 
for  several  years.  In  1840,  he  was  elected  secretary  of  the  Union  Insurance 
Company,  and  served  in  that  capacity  for  ten  years,  when  he  was  elected 
president,  and  still  continues  in  that  honorable  relation.  He  was  the 
eldest  child  of  his  parents,  and  is  brother  to  the  wife  of  Mr.  Brownlee, 
president  of  the  Merchants'  Bank,  and  also  to  Mrs.  O.  Shaw.  One  of 
his  brothers,  Lieutenant  Henderson  Ridgely,  of  the  light  infantry,  was 
killed  in  the  Mexican  war.  He  was  married  to  Miss  Eleanore,  daughter 
of  Mr.  John  B.  Robert,  of  Lexington,  Kentucky,  a  native  of  France. 

Mr.  Ridgely  has  been  successful  in  the  various  relations  of  life  in 
which  he  has  been  engaged.  This  success  is  not  to  be  attributed  to  the 
exploded  doctrine  of  being  "  born  under  an  auspicious  star,"  but  to  his 
judgment,  his  foresight,  and  his  habits  of  untiring  industry. 


F.    L.     RIDGE  LY. 

President  of  the  Board  of  Underwriters. 

,p.495.) 

F.NGRAVKD  EXPRESSLY  FOK  THIS  \FORK  FEOM  A  PHOTOGRAPH    BY  MROWN. 


JOHN    H.    GAY,    ESQ. 

(p.  407.) 

ENGRAVET)   EXPRTSSLY   FOR  THIS  WORK   FROM   A   PHOTOGRAPH   BY   BROWN. 


JOHN    II.    GAY, 

JOHN  H.'  GAY  was  born  October  7th,  1787,  in  Staunton,  Augusta  county, 
Virginia.  His  parents  were  in  moderate  circumstances,  owning  the  farm 
on  which  they  resided,  and  were  devoted  to  the  welfare  of  their  children. 
They  sold  out  their  property,  and  went  into  the  state  of  South  Carolina, 
where  they  lived  but  a  short  time  ;  for  they  lost  both  health  and  property, 
and  left  their  family  in  destitute  circumstances.  However,  Henry  Gay 
and  his  wife  were  well-beloved  by  their  friends,  and,  immediately  on  their 
demise,  they  sent  for  the  children,  took  them  to  their  homes  in  Virginia, 
and  properly  cared  for  them. 

John  Gay  was  the  eldest  of  this  family  of  children,  and,  after  receiving 
schooling  sufficient  to  qualify  him  for  business  pursuits,  commenced,  at  the 
age  of  twenty,  to  learn  the  tanning  and  currier  business.  From  the  very 
outset,  he  evinced  that  judgment  and  activity  in  business,  which  have 
always  marked  his  career,  and  insured  him  success  in  every  thing  he 
undertook.  It  was  but  a  short  period  before  he  purchased  the  concern 
of  his  employer,  and  carried  on  the  business  in  a  profitable  manner  on  his 
own  account.  It  was  during  this  time  that  he  united  himself  in  wedlock 
to  Miss  Sophia  Mitchell,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Edward  Mitchell,  their  mar- 
riage bearing  date  August  7th,  1813. 

After  the  expiration  of  two  years,  during  which  he  carried  on  the  tan- 
ning and  currier  business,  Mr.  Gay  sold  out,  and  went  to  Liberty,  where 
he  commenced  trading  in  cattle.  He  was  not  engaged  very  long  in  this 
new  vocation,  which  he  carried  on  with  great  profit,  before  he  resolved  to 
leave  Liberty,  and  enter  upon  a  new  pursuit.  In  1819,  he  went  to  St. 
Clair  county,  Illinois,  where  he  purchased  a  farm,  and  pursued  the  voca- 
tion of  an  agriculturist,  for  several  years.  The  farm  on  which  he  then 
resided  he  still  owns.  In  1824,  he  gave  up  farming  pursuits,  and  put  into 
execution  a  design  which  he  had  formed  some  time  previously,  and  came 
to  St.  Louis,  where  he  commenced  the  life  of  a  merchant;  and,  having 
associated  with  Mr.  Estis,  a  firm  called  Gay  and  Estis  sprung  into  exist- 
ence, and  they  were  soon  known  as  growing  men,  and  worthy  of  the  con- 
fidence and  support  of  the  community. 

Each  year  gave  to  the  new  firm  increased  strength  and  resources,  and 
year  by  year  the  business  extended,  and  soon  became  extensive  in  its  mag- 
nitude. While  on  the  full  tide  to  fortune,  ^he  firm  became  extinct  by  the 
death  of  Mr.  Estis,  and  then  Mr.  Gay  took  entire  charge  of  the  concern. 
This  was  in  1833,  and  so  assiduously  did  he  devote  himself  to  his  busi- 
ness, which,  from  its  extent,  required  continual  watchfulness,  to  keep  all 
of  its  parts  in  a  healthful  condition,  that  his  constitution  failed,  from  its 
mass  of  care  and  labor,  and,  finding  no  remedy  by  which  his  health  could 
be  recruited,  but  a  total  abandonment  of  his  business,  he  sold  out  to 
Messrs.  Ridgely  and  Billon. 

Mr.  Gay  has  three  children,  two  sons  and  a  daughter.  The  eldest  son, 
Edward  J.  Gay,  was  born  February  3,  1816,  and  married  Miss  Maria 
Hines,  daughter  of  Colonel  Hines,  of  Nashville,  Tennessee.  The  other 


500  'JOHN  n.  GAY. 

son,  William  T.  Gay,  was  born  in  St.  Louis,  October  15th,  1828,  and  mar- 
ried Miss  Sallie  Bass,  daughter  of  Mr.  Eli  Bass,  of  Boone  county.  The 
daughter,  Miss  Eliza  M.  Gay,  is  the  wife  of  Dr.  Meredith  of  St.  Louis. 
The  two  sons  of  John  H.  Gay,  whose  names  we  have  just  given,  are 
members  of  the  firm  of  Gay  &  Co.,  who  carry  on  so  successfully  the  whole- 
sale grocery  business  in  the  city.  There  is  no  house  in  St.  Louis  whose 
character  and  credit  are  higher  established,  and  who  enjoy  more  fully 
the  confidence  of  the  public. 

John  H.  Gay  has  been  a  citizen  of  St.  Louis,  and  in  all  of  the  manifold 
operations  connected  with  an  extensive  business,  for  thirty-five  years,  and 
there  is  no  one  who  can  say  that  he  has  done  an  action  derogatory  to  the 
merchant,  and  unworthy  of  a  man.  For  a  score  of  years,  he  lias  been 
connected  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Centenary  Church,  and  is  also  one  of  its  trustees.  He  has  been  most 
fortunate  in  the  utmost  sense.  He  has  won  for  himself  an  honored  name, 
has  gathered  worldly  goods  sufficient  to  satisfy  his  utmost  wishes,  and  the 
greatest  feat  he  has  accomplished,  is  raising  his  children  to  tread  in  his 
own  footsteps,  and  who  have  not  diverged  from  the  track  he  instructed 
them  to  pursue,  nor  forsaken  the  precepts  he  early  inculcated  on  them 
to  practice. 

When  a  branch  of  the  old  United  States  Bank  was  established  in  St. 
Louis,  Mr.  Gay  was  one  of  its  directors,  and,  with  his  honorable  compeers, 
so  managed  the  institution,  that,  in  the  general  rupture  of  the  parent  bank 
and  all  of  its  branches,  the  one  in  Missouri  wound  up  with  but  the  insig- 
nificant loss  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars,  whilst  the  failure  of 
most  of  the  other  branches  revealed  a  terrible  deficit,  and  a  system  of 
fraud  practised  by  their  officers,  which  caused  the  wreck  of  many  a  for- 
tune, and  the  distraction  of  many  an  intellect.  He  is  director  of  the  old 
Missouri  Insurance  Company,  and  is  one  of  the  pioneer  merchants  who 
so  efficiently  assisted  in  giving  to  St.  Louis  its  brilliant  business  position. 


ALONZO    CHILD. 


(p.  501.) 


ENGRAVED    EXPRESSLY    FOR    THIS  WORK    FROM   A    PHOTOGRAPH    BY    BROWN. 


ALONZO    CHILD. 

ALONZO  CHILD  was  born  July  21st,  180Y,  in  Rutland  county,  state  of 
Vermont.  He  is  a  scion  of  an  old  and  most  respectable  English  family 
of  Worcestershire,  and  the  first  member  emigrated  to  this  country  in  1630, 
and  landed  at  Boston.  His  name  was  Benjamin  Child,  and  from  him 
there  are  numerous  descendants,  and  it  may  be  said  that  some  of  them 
are  eminent,  and  all  of  them  occupy  most  respectable  spheres  of  life. 
The  family  are  remarkable  for  their  health,  vigor,  enterprise,  and  longevity, 
and  Ebenezer  Child,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  is  now 
living  in  Castleton,  Vermont,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-one. 

Alonzo  Child  received  an  excellent  education  in  his  youth,  having  been 
first  sent  to  the  country  schools,  and  then  for  several  years  to  the  Brandon 
Academy. 

At  the  age  of  eighteen,  his  eyes  became  diseased,  and  he  became  en- 
tirely blind  for  the  space  of  two  years;  but  having  visited  some  of  the 
eminent  physicians  of  Boston,  he  received  benefit  from  their  remedies, 
and  gradually  recovered  his  sight,  which  he  and  his  friends  had  feared 
was  lost  forever.  This  infirmity  necessarily  doomed  him  to  inaction  for 
several  years,  and  checked  his  exertions  in  the  very  May-day  of  life, 
when  the  spirits  are  most' genial  in  their  flow,  and  most  ardent  for  the 
trials  and  success  of  business  pursuits.  It  was  two  years  that  he  suffered 
from  his  affliction,  and  having  partially  recovered,  commenced  business 
in  1820,  in  Lowell,  Massachusetts,  by  introducing  the  anthracite  coal 
stoves,  invented  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Nott — one  of  the  most  erudite  scholars 
of  the  day,  and  so  long  the  president  of  Union  College,  which  he  so 
richly  endowed  at  his  death — who  furnished  him  with  a  large  consignment 
for  the  purpose  of  starting  him  in  business. 

Alonzo  Child  was  careful  at  first  to  keep  his  business  in  a  contracted 
sphere,  but  when  he  understood  properly  its  tendencies  and  his  bearing, 
he  extended  it  as  his  patronage  increased,  and  soon  carried  on  a  hard- 
ware store,  in  connection  with  other  manufactures,  of  considerable  extent. 
So  as  still  more  to  extend  his  business,  he  entered  into  copartnership 
with  Stephen  Mausur,  with  whom  he  continued  in  an  agreeable  business 
connection  for  several  years.  Stephen  Mausur,  his  former  partner,  is  now 
the  efficient  and  popular  mayor  of  Lowell. 

From  its  contiguity  to  Boston,  Mr.  Child  felt  convinced  that  Lowell 
would  never  be  a  city  of  very  great  commercial  importance,  and  he  deter- 
mined to  remove  to  some  point  where  he  could  enlarge  his  business  to 
a  greater  extent  than  he  could  in  that  town,  and,  winding  up  his  concern, 
started  on  a  visit  of  examination  through  the  principal  cities  of  the  Union. 
He  visited  in  his  tour  St.  Louis,  and  his  practical  knowledge  at  once  led 
him  to  believe  that  a  splendid  future  awaited  it,  from  the  peculiar  ad- 
vantages of  its  location.  He  had  found  what  he  wished  for,  a  city  with 
all  the  elements  of  business  vitality,  and  which  promised  in  time  to  be 
scarcely  second  in  magnitude  to  any  city  in  the  Union.  He  commenced 
in  1835,  the  hardware  business,  in  which  he  continues  to  this  time. 


504  ALONZO   CHILD 


The  business  career  of  Mr.  Child  in  St.  Louis,  has  been  a  most  prosper- 
ous one.  His  business  talents,  his  industry,  and  his  energy,  would  have 
made  him  partially  successful  in  any  place ;  but  in  St.  Louis,  where  there 
was  such  an  ample  field  for  their  development,  Mr.  Child  has  reached  a 
position  in  the  business  world  which  must  satisfy  all  of  his  business 
aspirations.  He  is  the  senior  partner  of  the  well-known  house  of  Child, 
Pratt  &  Co.,  and  his  name  has  an  influence  both  in  business  and  social 
circles,  the  result  of  successful  enterprise  and  exalted  merit.  Though  he 
has  amassed  a  fortune  sufficient  to  supply  all  the  luxuries  which  even  a 
devotee  of  pleasure  might  require,  he  still  pursues  his  usual  routine  of 
business  habits,  with  nearly  the  same  ardor  which  characterized  him  in 
his  early  years  ;  and  his  remarkable  diligence  furnishes  a  salutary  example 
to  the  young  members  of  his  establishment. 

In  1843-4,  Mr.  Child  visited  Europe,  and  spent  several  months  in  that 
country,  in  completing  arrangements  for  direct  importations  of  his  goods, 
and  his  house  has  a  fame  second  to  none  in  the  Western  country.  Since 
1850,  he  resides  principally  near  Tarry  town,  on  the  Hudson  River,  but 
spends  the  winter  season  in  St.  Louis. 

August  28th,  1838,  he  married  Miss  Mary  Goodrich,  daughter  of  James 
Goodrich,  formerly  of  Massachusetts.  They  are  a  Scotch  family,  and  the 
\vife  of  Mr.  Goodrich  was  a  Wallace,  and  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  martyr 
to  Scottish  liberty.  Mr.  Child  has  seven  children,  and  in  his  domestic 
relations  is  an  exemplary  husband  and  father. 


DR.    CHARLES    A.    POPE. 

(p.505.) 

ENGRAVED   EXPRESSLY   FOB  T11I8   WORK   FROM   A   PHOTOORAPH    1SY   BBOWN. 


DR.    CHARLES    A.    POPE. 

THIS  distinguished  surgeon,  who  now  occupies  the  chair  of  surgery  in 
St.  Louis  Medical  College,  was  born  March  15th,  1818,  at  Huntsville. 
Alabama.  His  father,  Benjamin  S.  Pope,  was  a  respectable  planter,  in 
liberal  circumstances  of  life,  and  gave  his  son  all  the  advantages  of  ar; 
early  education.  When  he  arrived  at  the  proper  age,  he  was  sent  to  the 
Greene  Academy  at  Huntsville,  and  was  then  transferred  to  the  University 
of  Alabama,  where  he  passed  through  the  prescribed  course  of  collegiate 
study.  Returning  to  his  native  town,  he  commenced  the  study  of  his 
profession  with  Drs.  Fearn  and  Erskine,  physicians  of  extensive  practice, 
and  accomplished  in  their  profession.  He  then  went  to  the  Cincinnati 
Medical  College,  and  attended  a  course  of  lectures,  and  believing  he  would 
have  still  greater  advantages  by  going  to  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
he  became  one  of  the  students  of  that  justly-celebrated  institution,  where 
he  remained  until  he  graduated. 

From  a  boy,  Dr.  Pope  was  of  a  sanguine  temperament,  and  ambitious 
of  success ;  and  after  graduating  at  Philadelphia,  he  determined  to  put 
the  last  finish  on  an  education  which  had  been  carefully  conducted  from 
the  commencement,  by  a  visit  to  Europe.  He  travelled  extensively  in 
France  and  Germany,  and  resided  two  years  in  Paris,  that  he  might  learn 
all  that  appertained  to  his  profession,  and  more  particularly  in  the  branch 
of  surgery,  which  had  been  brought  to  such  perfection  in  France.  In  1841 
Dr.  Pope  returned  from  Europe,  and,  satisfied  that  he  had  sought  every 
source  that  could  avail  him,  he  came  to  St.  Louis,  and  confidently  opened 
his  office  for  practice.  He  was  highly  accomplished  in  his  profession, 
which,  together  with  his  urbanity  of  manner  and  high  moral  attributes, 
soon  brought  him  before  the  public,  and  scarcely  a  year  had  elapsed  since 
his  advent  in  St.  Louis,  before  he  was  elected  professor  of  anatomy  in  the 
medical  department  of  the  St.  Louis  University.  After  filling  that  chaii 
for  some  years,  he  received  the  appointment  of  professor  of  surgery,  whicl 
chair  he  still  occupies. 

On  April  14th,  1846,  Dr.  Pope  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Caroline 
O'Fallon,  daughter  of  Colonel  John  O'Fallon,  of  St.  Louis.  In  the  par 
ticular  branch  of  his  profession,  to  which  he  has  devoted  his  closest  at- 
tention, there  are  few  who  do  not  acknowledge  his  supremacy.  He  had 
rare  advantages,  from  a  youth,  and  he  embraced  them  to  the  utmost,  sc 
that  now  his  fame  as  a  surgeon  has  extended  throughout  the  Union.  The 
St.  Louis  Medical  College,  with  which  Dr.  Pope  is  connected,  stands  in 
the  first  rank  of  medical  institutions,  and  is  richly  provided  with  every 
essential  for  a  complete  medical  education. 

As  a  citizen,  Dr.  Pope  has  proved  his  devotion  to  the  welfare  of  St. 
Louis,  by  the  active  part  he  has  taken  with  regard  to  the  common  schools, 
and  has  assisted  to  bring  about  the  present  efficient  system,  under  which 
they  so  healthfully  exist.  He  is  chairman  of  the  committee  of  High 
Normal  Schools ;  is  a  trustee  of  the  Washington  University ;  and  one  of 
the  managers  of  the  O'Fallon  Polytechnic  Institute. 

Dr.  Pope  is  in  the  very  meridian   of  life,  and   has  already  gathered 
laurels  of  which   any  man  may  be  proud.     He  has  fame,  position,  ana 
affluence,  and  when  scarcely  thirty-five  years  of  age  was  elected  the  eight!. 
president  of  the  American  Medical  Association. 
22 


ROBERT    BARTH. 

ROBERT  BARTH  was  born  March  16th,  1815,  at  Torgan,  in  the  country 
of  Prussia.  His  parents  were  in  respectable  circumstances  in  life,  and 
Robert  received  a  good  business  education,  having  been  sent  first  to  the 
ordinary  schools  of  the  country,  and  then,  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  was  sent 
to  a  commercial  college  at  Magdeburg,  where  he  remained  four  years. 
His  education  then  being  completed,  he  entered  as  clerk  in  the  grocery 
and  produce  business,  where  he  remained  seven  years,  and  leaving  that 
place,  went  to  Hamburg,  still  in  the  capacity  of  clerk,  and  got  ready  em- 
ployment. 

While  a  resident  of  Hamburg,  Mr.  Earth  heard  of  the  West  Indies, 
and  thought  of  settling  in  some  one  of  that  famous  cluster  of  islands ; 
but  during  his  voyage  he  changed  his  mind,  determining  to  visit  first  the 
United  States,  and  arrived  in  New  York  in  1839.  He  thought  it  first 
advisable  to  see  the  country  before  fixing  his  residence,  and,  travelling 
through  the  west,  came  to  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  He  arrived  in  December 
1839,  and  the  city  pleasing  him,  he  determined  to  commence  business  in 
it.  He  was  a  perfect  stranger,  with  but  little  means  ;  but  having  a  great 
deal  of  self-reliance  in  his  composition,  he  made  up  his  mind  to  commence 
and  succeed.  Chance  threw  him  in  the  way  of  Mr.  Angelrodt,  one  of  the 
first  German  settlers  in  Missouri,  and  a  most  influential  citizen,  who  took 
him  into  his  establishment,  the  firm  being  Carstens,  Angelrodt  &  Co., 
engaged  in  the  commission  and  grocery  business. 

Young  Earth  was  always  ambitious  of  success,  and  soon,  by  applica- 
tion, diligence,  and  economy,  gained  the  entire  confidence  of  his  employers, 
and  became  a  member  of  the  firm,  which  changed  to  Angelrodt,  Eggers 
&  Earth;  and  in  1850  was  changed  to  Angelrodt  &  Earth,  which  still 
continues. 

It  is  natural  for  any  one  with  a  cultivated  mind  to  take  an  interest  in 
every  measure  connected  with  mental  cultivation ;  and  Mr.  Earth  used  all 
of  his  efforts  in  promoting  the  establishment  of  the  Mercantile  Library, 
which  is  now  one  of  the  boasted  institutions  of  St.  Louis.  He  was  married 
to  Miss  Sophia  Angelrodt,  March  15th,  1847,  the  daughter  of  his  first 
friend  and  employer  in  St.  Louis  ;  and  so  effectually  has  he  won  the  public 
confidence  of  the  citizens,  that  he  was  appointed  as  agent  by  the  city 
authorities  to  negotiate  city  bonds  in  Europe.  He  has  been  a  director 
of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  and  consul  and  vice-consul  of  several  German 
states,  director  of  the  Perpetual  Insurance  Company  since  1843,  is  a 
director  of  the  Phcenix  Floating-Dock  Company,  and  is  the  efficient 
president  of  the  German  Saving  Institution,  so  high  in  the  confidence  of 
the  community. 


ROBERT     B  A  R  T  H • 

(I>.  509.) 

ENGRAVED   EXPRESSLY    FOR  THIS   WORK   FROM  A    PHOTOGRAPH   BY  TROXEI.I,. 


JOHN    WTTHNELL,     ESQ. 

(p.  511.) 

ENGRAVED   EXPRESSLY   FOR  THIS  WORK   FROM   A   PHOTOGRAPH    BY  TROXEI.L. 


JOHN    W1THNELL. 

WHOEVER  achieves  fortune  and  social  position  by  his  owu  efforts,  and 
preserves  at  the  same  time  an' unblemished  reputation,  is  a  credit  to 
humanity,  and  is  a  safe  example  and  guide  to  succeeding  generations. 
The  subject  of  this  memoir  belongs  to  this  class  of  persons,  who,  by  their 
own  untiring  energy  and  business  talent,  have  risen  by  degrees  to  prom- 
inence among  their  fellow-men ;  and  whose  purity  of  character  the  foul 
breath  of  calumny  has  never  aspersed. 

John  Withnell  was  born  March  19th,  1806,  at  Chorley,  Lancashire, 
England.  His  father,  John  Withnell,  after  whom  he  was  named,  was  an 
honorable  and  practical  business  man,  and  his  mother,  Elizabeth  Spencer, 
was  of  an  old  Catholic  family,  and  a  woman  remarkable  for  her  Christian 
and  domestic  virtues. 

John  Withnell,  the  elder,  was  a  lumber  merchant  and  builder,  who  early 
instilled  into  the  minds  of  his  children  the  principles  of  integrity  and 
self-reliance  as  the  great  secrets  of  life.  He  gave  them  all  a  sound 
English  education,  sufficient  to  fit  them  for  any  vocation ;  and  then,  this 
done,  he  felt  confident,  from  the  precepts  and  example  he  had  given  them, 
that  they  would  steer  safely  and  successfully  their  course ;  nor  has  he  been 
mistaken.  He  had  three  sons  and  three  daughters.  Two  of  the  latter 
died  before  forming  any  alliance  in  life,  and  the  youngest,  Elizabeth,  is 
still  living,  having  married  Mr.  William  Smith,  of  her  native  town.  All 
of  the  sons  have  been  busy  reapers  in  the  harvest-field  of  life,  and  have 
garnered  amply  of  its  riches.  One  of  them,  William,  went  to  the  West 
Indies,  where  he  soon,  by  his  talents,  assumed  a  most  prominent  position, 
and  became  most  fortunate  in  all  of  his  business  connections,  and  now 
lives  in  Liverpool,  in  the  quiet  enjoyment  of  the  independence  he  has 
acquired.  Another  son,  Thomas,  is  successfully  following  the  occupation 
of  an  architect  in  Spain ;  and  the  father  still  lives,  at  an  advanced  age, 
and  sees  with  pride,  that  the  example  he  set  in  life,  and  the  principles 
he  inculcated,  have  been  followed  by  his  children. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen,  John  Withnell  was  taken  from  school,  and, 
after  spending  some  time  at  home  in  employment,  was  apprenticed  to 
the  stone-cutting  business,  and  remained  in  that  capacity,  in  Liverpool,  for 
five  years.  He  was  always  attentive  to  his  work,  and  perfected  himself 
in  all  of  its  details ;  for  he  had  determined  to  be  in  the  first  rank  of  his 
vocation,  and  win  his  way  to  fortune. 

After  leaving  Liverpool,  he  returned  home  for  a  short  time,  and  made 
preparations  to  sail  for  America.  He  had,  for  years,  yearned  for  that 
favored  land  which  offered  such  inducements  to  the  young  votary  of 
aspiring  ambition.  He  landed  in  the  United  States  in  1829,  with  one 
sovereign  in  his  pocket,  and,  after  sojourning  in  the  East  a  short  time, 
departed  for  Pittsburgh,  on  foot;  for  it  was  the  commencement  of  the 
winter  of  1829,  and  he  could  not  well  work  at  his  trade  during  the  in- 
clement season. 

Mr.  Withriell's  advent  in  Pittsburgh  was  propitious.     It  was  there  he 


514:  JOHN    WITHNELL. 


formed  the  acquaintance  of  his  present  estimable  lady,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Martha  Graves  Wainwright,  whom  he  married  in  January,  1833, 
when  he  had  become  a  resident  of  St.  Louis.  She  was  the  daughter  of 
Mr.  Joseph  Wainwright,  of  Lawrenceville,  who  is  still  living. 

After  a  trial  of  Pittsburgh  for  nearly  two  years,  he  departed  for  St. 
Louis,  where  he  arrived  in  August,  1831,  and  in  a  little  while  afterward 
assisted  in  building  the  penitentiary  at  Alton.  He  soon  became  known 
in  St.  Louis  for  his  skill  and  attention  to  business,  and  many  of  the  large 
contracts  for  stone-work  fell  into  his  hands.  He  had  the  contract  for 
the  stone-cutting  of  the  cathedral,  and  many  others  of  much  importance. 

He  had  formed  a  business  connection  in  St.  Louis  with  Mr.  Coates,  a 
gentleman  of  fine  abilities  and  social  worth,  which  existed  until  1838, 
when  Mr.  Withnell  went  to  Jefferson  City,  having  obtained  the  stone- 
contract  of  the  capitol.  He  was  engaged  in  this  contract  for  three  years, 
and  the  capitol  of  our  state,  which  is  built  of  a  kind  of  marble  suscept- 
ible of  the  highest  finish,  owes  much  of  its  beauty  to  his  skill  and  taste- 
ful execution.  He  was  also  for  many  years  a  partner  in  the  brewery 
business  conducted  by  Wainwright,  Coates  &  Co. 

Shortly  after  leaving  Jefferson  City,  he  took  the  contract  for  the  county 
jail,  which  was  the  last  work  he  performed  in  the  stone-contract  business, 
and  in  1843  bought  the  place  where  he  now  resides,  in  the  suburbs  of  St. 
Louis,  which  was  then  a  wild.  Years  before,  in  his  rambles  through  the 
country,  he  had  been  delighted  with  the  beautiful  location,  and  had  deter- 
mined, when  sufficiently  able,  to  purchase  it.  He  has  adorned  it  with 
the  most  exquisite  taste  and  elegance,  and  the  grounds  are  among  the 
most  tasteful  and  lovely  in  the  Western  country. 

Mr.  Withnell  has  avoided  politics  as  uncongenial  with  that  quietude  in 
which  he  delights;  but  in  1843,  he  was  persuaded  by  his  friends  to  be- 
come a  member  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  in  which  he  served  two  terms. 
He  was  one  of  the  corporators  of  the  St.  Louis  Agricultural  and  Mechani- 
cal Association,  and  was  one  of  its  efficient  directors  for  three  years.  He 
is  also  a  director  in  the  Gas  Company,  and  his  name  adds  weight  and 
respect  to  every  thing  with  which  it  is  connected.  He  is  retiring  in  his 
disposition,  domestic  in  his  habits,  warm  in  his  friendship,  and  passes  his 
life  chiefly  in  superintending  the  cultivation  and  adornment  of  his  farm, 
and  in  the  serene  enjoyments  which  nestle  around  the  family  hearth- 
stone. 


THE    FILLEY    FAMILY, 

IN  America  there  is  but  little  pride  taken  in  genealogy,  and  it  is  a  rare 
occurrence  to  meet  a  family  who  can  trace  their  ancestral  lineage  farther 
back  than  two  or  three  generations.  Business  is  the  great  absorbing  in- 
terest of  all  classes  of  society,  and  keeps  them  intent  upon  the  present 
and  the  future ;  what  is  past  cannot  materially  affect  their  business,  arid 
the  indulgence  of  family  reminiscences  would  only  occupy  their  mind  to 
the  exclusion  of  other  thoughts  more  available  perhaps  in  a  financial 
view.  This  is  the  substance  of  their  reasoning,  and  hence  the  ignorance 
displayed  by  most  families  in  ancestral  knowledge.  There  are  some  whom 
this  business  philosophy  does  not  influence,  who  take  a  worthy  pride  in 
tracing  their  families  from  some  certain  renowned  epoch,  through  all  the 
mazes  of  lineal  and  collateral  descent  for  a  long  series  of  years,  and  in 
keeping  a  record  of  the  names  and  pursuits  of  each  member,  which  is 
handed  down  to  the  succeeding  generations  as  a  valuable  relic.  The 
family  who  head  this  article  can  trace  their  different  members  through  all 
of  their  various  connections,  with  all  the  accuracy  of  a  fee  simple  estate, 
as  far  back  as  1620,  the  year  on  which  the  Pilgrims  dated  their  advent  on 
the  continent  of  America. 

Before  proceeding  farther  in  this  place,  the  author  would  say  that  it  was 
his  original  intention  of  giving  a  biography  of  only  one  member  of  the 
Filley  family,  and  the  one  selected  was  the  Hon.  Oliver  D.  Filley,  the 
present  mayor  of  the  city;  but  there  were  others  of  the  same  name  and 
same  family,  who  were  well  worthy  of  a  place  in  this  book ;  so  he  deter- 
mined upon  giving  a  succinct  historical  sketch  of  a  family  who  have 
taken  a  singular  pride  in  preserving  their  genealogical  records,  and  whose 
members,  residing  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  have  been  among  our  most 
thrifty  and  enterprising  citizens. 

The  Filley  family  are  of  Welsh  origin,  and  the  first  of  that  name  that 
ever  trod  upon  American  soil,  was  a  passenger  in  the  "Mayflower,"  which, 
in  November,  1620,  landed  the  Pilgrims  on  the  bleak  promontory  where 
Plymouth  now  stands.  Thirteen  years  afterward,  when  two-thirds  of  their 
number  had  been  destroyed  by  disease,  famine,  and  the  tomahawk,  a 
small  colony,  under  the  direction  of  William  Holmes,  sailed  from 
Plymouth  to  Windsor,  Connecticut,  to  form  a  settlement;  and  for  the 
purpose  of  defence,  was  built  the  log  fort  which  was  afterward  attacked 
by  the  Dutch  governor,  who  presided  over  the  few  houses  which  were  the 
first  commencement  of  the  present  city  of  New  York.  They  were,  how- 
ever, repulsed,  and  the  new  colony  at  Windsor  soon  commenced  to  grow 
as  some  coral  isle  in  the  sea  of  wilderness. 

There  is  an  old  record  at  Windsor  still  in  existence  which  shows 
undeniably  that  William  Filley  was  one  of  those  who  founded  the 
place  in  1633.  From  this  William  Filley  have  sprung  the  numerous 


516  THE    FILLET   FAMILY. 


branches  of  the  Filley  family  which  are  now  so  widely  spread  over  the 
Union.  Were  we  so  disposed,  we  could  now,  from  documents  in  our 
possession,  trace  all  the  descendants  of  William  Filley  down  to  the  present 
generation,  giving  their  names,  and  dates,  and  places  of  birth.  This  would 
be  dealing  too  much  with  the  past,  and  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this 
work,  which  is  designed  to  comprise  in  the  most  limited  space  the  most 
useful  and  interesting  information.  We  will  only  say  that  some  of  the 
family  during  the  Revolutionary  war  did  good  service  for  their  country  at 
that  precarious  period  of  her  existence. 

Oliver  D.  Filley,  the  present  mayor  of  St.  Louis,  was  born  May  23d, 
1806,  in  Simsbury,  now  Bloomfield,  Connecticut.  His  parents,  Oliver 
Filley  and  Annis  Humphrey,  were  married  May  8th,  1805,  and  had  eight 
children,  of  whom  Oliver  D.  Filley  was  the  eldest.  He  was  sent  early  to 
school,  and  directly  he  learned  the  branches  of  a  business  education,  he 
commenced  to  learn  the  tin-ware  business  in  the  shop  of  his  father. 
Some  time  afterward  he  was  sent  to  complete  his  education  at  an  academy. 
His  father,  purchasing  a  farm,  carried  on  at  the  same  time  the  tin-ware 
business,  and  Oliver  frequently  assisted  him  in  his  mechanical  and  agricul- 
tural labors. 

Previous  to  the  autumn  of  1829,  the  fame  of  the  western  country  had 
become  bruited  along  the  Atlantic  settlements,  and  crowds  of  emigrants 
daily  forsook  their  homes,  to  locate  themselves  on  a  soil  whose  fertility  so 
widely  contrasted  with  the  barrenness  of  the  eastern  regions.  Oliver  D. 
Filley  joined  the  general  exodus.  He  was  anxious  to  locate  himself  in  a 
place  that  possessed  in  itself  all  the  elements  of  prosperity ;  and  then 
the  self-reliance  which  from  a  youth  made  a  part  of  his  character,  assured 
him  that  he  would  be  successful  in  all  of  his  undertakings ;  so,  in  the 
season  and  year  we  have  mentioned,  he  came  to  St.  Louis,  and  at  once 
commenced  working  journey-work  in  the  tin  establishment  of  a  Mr. 
Mansfield.  After  pursuing  his  vocation  in  this  manner  for  about  a  year, 
he  purchased  the  establishment  from  its  owner,  and  this  was  the  com- 
mencement of  the  large  fortune  that  he  has  since  amassed,  and  the  start- 
ing-point of  that  business  capacity  which  has  so  developed  its  rare  powers 
in  every  thing  he  has  undertaken. 

The  little  shop  which  Mr.  Filley  first  purchased,  under  his  management 
soon  commenced  to  enlarge  and  make  a  figure  in  the  locality  in  which  it 
stood.  Year  after  year  it  gave  significant  evidence  of  its  vitality,  and  the 
owner  gradually  became  introduced  to  the  commercial  world  by  his 
business  operations,  which  had  ever  been  conducted  in  accordance  with 
the  highest  principles  of  honor.  He  soon  became  well  known  and  re- 
spected, and  at  last  became  a  leading  man  in  the  business  world  of  the 
Western  Metropolis,  by  his  own  efforts,  unassisted  by  adventitious  circum- 
stances. 

The  possession  of  wealth,  which  so  often  petrifies  the  heart  and  renders 
it  insensible  to  sympathizing  emotions,  has  had  no  injurious  effect  on 
Mr.  Filley.  His  charitable  feelings  can  readily  be  called  into  action,  if 
any  worthy  object  be  presented  for  relief.  His  liberality  does  not  pro- 
ceed from  a  vain  ostentation.  He  seeks  no  display,  and  gives  from  a 
sense  of  duty  and  to  gratify  the  promptings  of  a  heart  naturally  generous. 
The  fortune  that  he  now  possesses  has  been  made  from  the  profits  accruing 
from  the  business  he  pursued,  and  ho  has  always  been  opposed  to  the 


THE   FILLET   FAMILY.  517 


dangerous  system  of  uncertain  speculation.  How  cautious  he  is  in  busi- 
ness, the  following  circumstance  will  show.  He  was  once  a  director  in 
the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  when  the  majority  of  the  directors 
were  in  favor  of  receiving  Illinois  money  on  deposit,  he  resigned  his 
position. 

Mr.  Filley  has  ever  been  a  strong  advocate  of  abolishing  slavery  in  the 
state  of  Missouri,  and  in  1848,  when  a  call  was  made  upon  the  public  for 
an  expression  of  its  opinion,  his  name  first  appeared  upon  the  roll.  If 
Missouri  were  free,  the  quicker,  he  thought,  she  would  develop  her 
resources.  Acting  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the  people,  he  be- 
came a  candidate  for  mayor  in  1848,  and  was  elected;  and  so  popular 
was  his  administration  that,  contrary  to  his  wishes,  he  was  again  brought 
forward  in  1859,  and  was  again  elected  to  his  high  position.  Mr.  Filley 
married  Chloe  Velina  Brown,  and  they  have  a  family  of  six  children ;  the 
eldest  son,  Oliver  Brown  Filley,  being  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  well 
known  Fulton  Iron  Works. 

The  brothers  of  Oliver  D.  Filley  are  all  well  known  in  the  localities  in 
which  they  reside,  and  have  been  successful  in  the  avocations  they  have 
pursued.  Marcus  L.  Filley,  now  of  Troy,  New  York,  was  once  a  resident 
of  St.  Louis,  having  come  to  the  city  as  early  as  1827,  and  was  for  two  years 
a  student  of  law  in  the  office  of  Judge  Peck.  Giles  F.  Filley,  another 
brother,  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1833,  and  entered  into  business  with  his  eldest 
brother,  Oliver,  learning  his  trade,  and  with  whom  he  continued  until  1841, 
when  he  went  into  the  crockery  business,  which  he  continued  until  1849, 
and  then  connected  himself  with  the  foundry  business.  He  has  been 
largely  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  stoves,  and  has  become  numbered 
among  our  wealthy  citizens.  J.  H.  Filley,  also  a  brother,  resides  in 
Bloomfield,  Connecticut,  where  their  only  sister  also  lives.  E.  A;  &  S.  R. 
Filley,  the  extensive  china  merchants,  and  Chauncey  J.  Filley,  their  brother, 
who  has  likewise  a  large  china  establishment,  belong  to  this  remarkable 
family,  and  possess  their  leading  characteristics.  The  whole  family  have 
been  remarkably  successful  in  the  vocations  they  have  pursued.  They 
have  inherited  the  virtues  of  the  Puritan,  stripped  of  his  bigotry,  and 
their  business  talent,  their  unerring  judgment,  and  honorable  bearing, 
have  won  the  confidence  and  well-wishes  of  the  community  where  they 
reside. 


SL  tf  o   "*>  <2  ST*  ~ 
—  ^a       ^3   o 
1:6  B  ^^  2 


THE  ADVANCE  OF  REAL  ESTATE  IN  ST.  LOUIS. 

THE  rise  of  veal  estate  in  St.  Louis  has  been  so  fabulous  that  it  has  be- 
come a  theme  of  wonder  and  interest.  We  could  not  make  this  history 
complete  did  we  not  give  some  account  of  the  progressions ;  and  to  make 
the  relation  more  varied,  more  extensive,  more  authentic,  and  interesting, 
we  have  solicited  the  aid  of  those  gentlemen  that  are  known  to  the  com- 
munity, as  most  conversant  with  all  of  its  features ;  and,  without  com- 
ment or  alteration,  we  give  to  our  readers  the  communications  which  have 
been  addressed  to  us  relative  to  our  inquiries. 

No  effort  on  our  part  could  have  so  effectually  gathered  tbis  most  use- 
ful information,  and  these  communications  will  form  a  most  interesting 
portion  of  our  work.  We  are  indebted  for  the  following  communica- 
tions to  WILLIAM  Louis  A.  LEBAUME, 

President  of  Gas-Light  Company. 
Dr.  J.  W.  HALL, 

Large  owner  of  real  estate. 
J.  G.  BARRY, 

Ex-Mayor  of  St.  Louis. 
JOHN  CASEY, 

Large  owner  of  real  estate. 
BELT  &  PRIEST, 

Real  Estate  Agents. 
WILLIAM  RISLEY, 

County  Treasurer. 
HENRY  W.  WILLIAMS, 

Attorney  at  law,  and  extensively  engaged  in 
real  estate  practice. 

"  ST.  Louis,  March  24th,  1860. 

"DEAR  SIR  : — In  compliance  with  your  request,  I  have  tried  to  bring  to 
mind  as  far  as  I  could  the  value  of  real  estate  in  this  city  during  the  past 
forty-two  years.  I  have  not  been  a  speculator  in  lands,  but  have  bought 
for  my  own  use.  In  the  year  1822  I  purchased  a  lot  on  Third  street, 
between  Plum  and  Cedar  streets,  75  feet  front  by  150  in  depth,  for  the 
sum  of  $225  the  lot.  In  the  year  1846  I  sold  the  same  lot  for  $3,000, 
and  it  is  now  held  at  a  bid  of  $17,000.  In  1834  I  bought  a  lot  on  Main 
street,  between  Spruce  and  Myrtle  streets,  40  feet  front,  running  to  the 
river  bank,  for  $350;  and  in  1852  I  sold  it,  with  a  two-story  house  on 
it,  for  $10,000.  The  same  property  is  now  worth  $35,000.  In  1845  I 
bought  a  lot  on  Second  street,  between  Lombard  and  Hazel  streets,  150 
feet  front,  running  to  the  river,  for  $800;  and  in  1855  I  sold  one-third  of 
it  for  $42,000,  and  held  the  balance  at  $100,000.  In  1849  I  bought  a 
house  and  lot  on  Walnut  street,  between  Sixth  and  Seventh  streets,  for 
$6,000.  In  1856  I  was  offered  $15,000  for  it,  I  have  known  similar  sales. 

"  Yours  truly,  "  W.  RISLEY." 


REAL   ESTATE   IN    ST.    LOUIS.  521 

"ST.  Louis,  March  6th,  1800. 

"  DEAR  SIR  : — I  have  been  trying  to  remember  some  sales  which  might 
have  taken  place  many  years  ago,  and  therefore  interest  you,  as  showing 
the  rise  in  the  price  of  property  in  St.  Louis. 

"  I  remember  in  1834  I  bought  from  Benjamin  Lawhead  some  ground 
on  what  is  now  Second  street,  east  side,  between  Locust  and  Olive  streets, 
for  $  150  per  foot,  which  is  now  valued  at  $1,500  or  $2,000  per  front  foot. 
Recently,  in  1850,  I  bought  where  I  now  reside,  on  Chouteau  avenue,  a 
$40  per  foot  front.  It  is  now  supposed  to  be  worth  $150  or  $200  per 
foot.  I  have  known  various  instances  where  ground  has  been  sold  for 
from  $50  to  $100  per  foot,  which  is  now  worth  from  $1,000  to  $2,000  per 
foot.  In  fact,  the  whole  town  is  nothing  but  an  illustration  of  the  sud- 
den rise  of  property,  and  consequently  the  sudden  enrichment  of  the 
owners  of  the  property.  I  was  once  offered  ground  on  the  corner  of  Main 
and  Spruce  streets  for  $15  per  foot.  I  wanted  to  purchase  it  for  a  peach- 
orchard,  but  did  not  do  so.  It  is  now  worth  $700  or  $600  per  foot.  I 
remember  in  the  year  1832  or  1833  ground  fronting  on  Fourth  and  Fifth 
streets,  south  of  Gratiot  street,  that  I  declared  positively  I  would  not  have 
the  ground  for  a  gift,  the  then  owner  to  make  me  a  deed  for  the  land 
and  put  it  on  record.  It  is  now  worth  $300  and  $400  per  front  foot. 

"  1  remember  I  was  one  of  three  commissioners  appointed  by  the 
Corporation  to  sell  city  commons  purely  and  solely  as  the  ordinance  pro- 
vided, for  agricultural  purposes.  We  sold  land  (I  then  called  it  giving 
away),  some  for  say  $15  per  acre;  it  is  now  worth  in  some  instances  $50 
per  front  foot.  There  was  one  instance  we  sold  land  in  the  commons 
for  $1,500  per  acre;  it  is  now  worth,  on  the  corner  of  Parke  avenue  and 
St.  Ange  avenue,  $125  per  front  foot. 

"  I  remain,  sir,  very  respectfully, 

"JAMES  G.  BARRY." 

"  ST.  Louis  GAS-LIGHT  COMPANY,  ST.  Louis,  Feb.  9th,  1860. 

"  DEAR  SIR  : — At  your  request  I  refresh  my  memory  to  give  you,  as  far 
as  I  can  in  my  opinion,  the  value  of  property  in  St.  Louis  for  some  twenty- 
five  to  thirty-five  years  back.  The  first  sale  which  I  can  recollect  was 
made  by  grandmother  Dubruil,  of  a  lot  on  the  corner  of  Second  and  Pine 
streets,  70  feet  front  by  150  deep,  to  M.  Papin,  for  $700.  This  was,  I 
think,  in  1822  or  1823.  My  mother  bought  in  1822  or  1823  a  lot  70  feet 
front  by  150  in  depth,  corner  of  Second  and  Olive  streets,  south-west 
corner,  with  good  stone  house,  log  kitchen,  barn  and  good  fences,  all 
for  $1,500.  The  above  are  now  worth  from  $1,500  to  $2,000  per  foot. 

"In  1826  my  grandmother's  property  on  Second  street,  block  61,  I  be- 
lieve between  Chesnut  and  Pine  streets,  was  sold  by  the  administrator,  50 
feet,  corner  Second  and  Chesnut  by  150,  for  $10  per  foot.  The  remainder, 
about  18  feet,  with  a  first-rate  stone  house  and  kitchen,  was  bought  in  by 
my  mother  for  benefit  of  estate  for  $3,000,  and  sold  by  her  to  Mr.  Gay  in 
1830  or  31  for  the  same  price — so  that  property  had  not  risen  in  that 
locality  from  1826  to  1831.  Property  even  in  the  business  parts  of  the 
city  had  but  a  nominal  value  till  about  1832  to  1833.  It  may  have  com- 
menced rising  a  little  in  1831,  but  so  slightly  that  it  was  not  noticeable, 
and  did  not  really  seem  to  rise  till  1835.  From  this  period  it  went  up 


522  REAL   ESTATE   IN    ST.    LOUIS. 

in  the  business  parts  of  the  town  pretty  rapidly  till  1838  or  1839 — the 
commencement  of  bank  disasters.  From  that  period  to  1842-3,  though 
there  may  have  been  no  fall,  there  was  no  demand,  and,  to  my  knowledge, 
no  sales. 

"In  1836  or  1837  I  heard  Mr.  Lucas  offer  land  about  Lucas  Place  for 
$200  an  acre.  He  sold  lots  to  Benoist,  Bogy  and  others  on  Eighth  street, 
between  Pine  and  Locust  streets,  for  $10  per  foot. 

"After  the  crash  of  the  banks,  from  1837  to  1841,  property  had  but 
a  nominal  value;  it  commenced  rising  about  1842  or  1843,  and  went 
up  gradually  till  1845,  from  which  time  it  improved  more  rapidly,  till  the 
great  fire  in  1849.  From  the  latter  date  it  rose  very  fast  to  the  present 
time,  and  still  continues  rising,  notwithstanding  the  cry  of  croakers  to  the 
contrary ;  and,  in  my  humble  judgment,  will  continue  onward  till  the 
great  valley  of  the  Mississippi  is  filled  up  and  densely  populated.  Coun- 
try property  rose  but  little  until  the  building  of  plank  and  macadamized 
roads,  but  went  up  magically  after  the  commencement  of  our  railroads. 

"  To  resume,  in  my  opinion,  there  was  but  an  imperceptible,  if  any  rise  in 
property  in  the  city  till  1834  or  1835,  when  it  continued  to  rise  slowly  till 
the  great  crash  in  1838  or  1839.  It  went  up  again  about  1842  or  1843, 
slowly,  till  1849,  and  from  that  period  to  date  very  rapidly. 

"  Hoping  the  above  may  add  a  little  light  to  your  valuable  researches, 
I  remain,  dear  sir,  yours  truly  and  respectfully, 

"  Louis  A.  LABAUM." 

"Sr.  Louis,  March  29th,  1860. 

"DEAR  SIR: — In  reply  to  your  inquiries  concerning  the  rise  of  real 
estate  in  this  city,  accept  this  hastily-prepared  schedule  of  facts. 

"In  1818,  a  lot  on  the  west  side  of  Main  street,  between  Locust  and 
Olive  streets,  having  a  front  on  Main  street  of  65  feet,  and  running  through 
to  Second  street,  was  purchased  for  $1,800;  in  1857,  a  part  of  the  same 
property,  having  a  front  on  Main  street  of  43  feet,  and  running  west  to  the 
alley  140  feet,  back  not  quite  half  the  western  width  of  the  lot,  was  sold 
for  $1,275  per  front  foot— about  $56,000. 

"  In  1836,  property  was  offered  on  the  corner  of  Eighth  and  Pine 
streets  for  $10  per  foot,  but  there  were  no  bids  for  it,  every  one  thinking 
that  the  price  was  greatly  beyond  the  intrinsic  value  of  the  property,  as 
all  west  of  Eighth  street  was  at  that  time  a  common. 

"In  1839,  the  eastern  half  of  the  block  on  which  the  Planters'  House 
stands  was  sold  for  $150  per  foot,  fronting  on  Fourth  street.  The  price 
was  regarded  as  ruinous  to  the  purchaser.  The  property  is  now  worth, 
without  improvement,  $1,500  per  front  foot. 

"As  late  as  1849,  previous  to  the  great  fire,  the  most  desirable  prop- 
erty on  Main  street  would  not  bring  more  than  $300  per  front  foot. 

"In  1851,  during  autumn,  Stoddard's  Addition  was  sold.  Property  on 
the  corner  of  Locust  and  Beaumont  streets  was  then  sold  for  $15  per 
foot ;  on  the  corner  of  Washington  and  Garrison  avenues  for  $5  74  per 
foot;  on  the  corner  of  Franklin  and  Ewing  avenues  for  $15  per  foot ;  on 
the  corner  of  Lucas  and  Leffingwell  avenues  for  the  same  price ;  and 
other  parts  of  the  Addition,  not  having  the  advantage  of  a  corner  locality, 
at  lower  figures.  Nine  years  have  elapsed,  and  the  same  property  will 
now  readily  bring  from  $65  to  $100  per  foot. 


REAL   ESTATE   IN   ST.    LOUIS.  523 

"In  1827,  on  Second  street,  corner  of  Chesnut  and  Pine,  J.  Francis 
Cb.ou.teau  sold  seventy-two  feet  front  by  one  hundred  and  fifty,  running 
west,  to  Pierre  Didier  Chouteau  for  $800 ;  in  1858  the  same  property 
was  sold  by  the  heirs  of  Papin  to  Edward  J.  Gay  for  $1,080  per  foot, 
each  foot  then  bringing  more  than  the  whole  seventy-two  feet  in  1827. 
On  this  lot  stand  Gay's  marble  buildings. 

"Very  respectfully,  "BELT  &  PRIEST, 

"  Real  Estate  Agents,  41  Chesnut  street." 

"ST.  Louis,  March  9th,  1860. 

"  DEAR  SIR  : — I  will  try  to  comply  with  your  request  in  relation  to  the 
relative  value  of  property  in  St.  Louis  during  the  last  few  years. 

"I  will  give  you  the  facts  of  a  few  prominent  points,  by  which  you  will 
be  able  to  judge  of  intermediate  points. 

"Early  in  1840,  property  on  the  corner  of  Fifth  and  Market  streets 
sold  for  $100  per  foot;  the  same  will  now  readily  sell  for  $1,000  per  foot. 

"In  1840  I  bought  lots  on  Olive  street,  between  Seventh  and  Eighth 
streets,  at  $40  per  foot,  which  would  now  sell  for  $350  per  foot.  About 
this  time  I  could  have  bought  of  Judge  J.  B.  C.  Lewis  property  on  Olive 
street,  between  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  streets,  for  $10  per  foot,  which  is  now 
worth  $300  per  foot.  And  on  the  same  street,  between  Fifteenth  and 
Sixteenth  streets,  $5  per  foot  is  now  worth  $200  per  foot. 

"In  1842-3  property  sold  in  Christy's  Addition,  west  of  the  St.  Louis 
University,  between  Twelfth  and  Sixteenth  streets  and  Christy  avenue,  at 
from  $4  to  $10  per  foot.  The  same  would  sell  to-day  for  from  $125  to 
$200  per  foot. 

"  In  1843-4,  on  Franklin  avenue,  and  south  of  it,  in  Mills'  Addition, 
property  sold  about  Twenty-third  street  at  from  $3  to  $5  per  foot,  is  now 
worth  from  $50  to  $75  per  foot. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  the  market  on  Seventh  street,  property  could 
have  been  bought  in  1844  at  from  $10  to  $20  per  foot.  The  same  will 
now  sell  for  from  $250  to  $300  per  foot.  Looking  southwardly,  property 
sold  about  this  time  at  a  very  low  figure,  but  has  rapidly  risen  to  figures 
quite  as  high  as  in  any  other  direction. 

"From  1840  to  1850  the  tendency  was  north.  About  1850  a  very 
rapid  advance  took  place  to  the  south  and  south-west.  From  about 
1854  to  1860  a  great  rush  took  place  to  the  north-west,  in  the  direction 
of  Fair  Grounds. 

"North  St.  Louis,  about  Bremen,  toward  1850  began  to  make  rapid 
strides. 

"In  1849  Lowell  was  first  offered.  It  had  been  bought,  only  one  year 
before,  for  about  $200  per  acre.  In  May,  1849,  it  sold  for  from  $5  to  $10 
per  foot  on  Bellefontaine  road.  It  is  now  selling  at  from  $20  to  $30  per 
foot,  or  about  from  $4,000  to  $5,000  per  acre. 

"Thus,  if  you  take  a  stand-point  about  the  court-house,  you  will  find 
the  progress  resulting  about  the  same,  though  something  in  favor  of  the 
northward.  Westwardly  you  will  find  quite  an  equal  advance. 

"  In  Stodclard's  Addition,  which  is  only  about  ten  years  old,  property 
sold  at  from  $5  to  $20  per  foot.  It  will  now  sell  at  from  $50  to  $125  per 
foot. 


524  REAL    ESTATE   IN    ST.    LOUIS. 

"As  you  will  observe,  the  wave  of  progress  has  fluctuated  in  every 
direction,  first  in  one  and  then  in  another,  but  finally  it  gains  an  equilib- 
rium, as  things  have  become  established. 

"  Thus  you  will  see  that  those  who  invest  money  in  St.  Louis  have  only 
to  wait  a  little,  and  a  short  time  brings  about  vast  results.  And  the  only 
way  to  judge  of  the  future  is  to  look  at  the  past;  according  to  this  rule, 
the  destiny  of  St.  Louis  is  bound  to  be  the  great  central  city  of  the 
United  States.  "Truly  yours,  "W.  HALL." 

"CARONDELET,  March  12th  1860. 

"DEAR  SIR: — I  have  endeavored  to  recollect  a  few  instances  which  have 
occurred  within  my  knowledge  for  the  last  thirty  years  as  to  the  advance 
in  the  value  of  real  estate  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis. 

.  "I  purchased  of  B.  A.  Soulard  in  1843  a  piece  of  property  on  Caron- 
delet  avenue,  now  Nos.  12  and  14,  four  doors  this  side  of  Park  avenne,  for 
$2,400,  on  which  there  were  two  brick  dwellings,  considered  worth  the 
amount  paid  for  the  whole  property,  40  feet  front  by  140  in  depth,  for 
which  I  have  been  offered  recently  $9,000. 

*"  I  also  bought  of  Edward  Leavy  a  piece  of  property  on  the  corner  of 
Thirteenth  street  and  Franklin  avenue  in  1843  for  $850,  on  which  there 
was  a  two-story  frame  building,  now  paying  an  annual  rent  of  $850,  26 
feet  front  by  a  depth  of  107  feet.  The  above  property  was  cultivated  as 
a  corn-field  in  1840.  This  property  is  now  worth  $250  per  foot. 

"I  bought  of  John  Loane  in  July,  1848,  a  piece  of  property  on  the 
south  side  of  Morgan  street,  between  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth  streets,  26 
feet  front  by  a  depth  of  144  feet  to  Orange  street,  on  which  there  was  a 
two-story  brick  building,  for  $1,800,  now  yielding  a  monthly  rent  of  $60, 
and  worth  now  at  least  $250  per  front  foot. 

"I  bought  in  October,  1849,  a  piece  of  property  83  feet  front  by  a 
depth  of  147  feet  on  the  corner  of  Christy  avenue  and  Nineteenth  street, 
which  cost  about  $45  per  front  foot.  It  could  be  readily  sold  now  for 
from  $125  to  $150  per  foot. 

"  I  was  present  at  a  sale  made  in  1832  or  1833  on  Main  street,  where 
Murdoch  &  Dickson  now  keep  their  auction  room.  The  property  sold  on 
that  day  was  bid  off  to  A.  Kerr,  of  the  house  of  J.  &  A.  Kerr,  at  $70  per 
front  foot,  running  back  to  Commercial  street,  and  could  now,  I  presume, 
be  sold  for  $2,000  per  foot. 

"Respectfully,  "  JOHN  CASEY." 

"  ST.  Louis,  April  5th,  1860. 

"DEAR  SIR: — Assuming  that  you  do  not  expect  any  thing  more  than 
4  personal  recollections'  in  the  statement  which  you  have  requested  me  to 
make  in  reference  to  the  enhancement  in  value  of  real  estate  in  St.  Louis 
and  its  vicinity,  I  proceed  to  give  you  a  few  items. 

"My  acquaintance  with  the  property  of  St.  Louis  commenced  in  the 
year  1844.  The  population  of  the  city  was  then  estimated  at  40,000,  the 
previous  census,  taken  in  1840,  showing  only  16,649.  This  remarkable 
increase  of  ncaqly  twenty-four  thousand  in  four  years  appears  to  have 
had  but  slight  effect  upon  the  value  of  real  estate,  as  property  could  have 
been  purchased  by  the  acre  at  that  date  in  almost  any  direction  from  the 


REAL    ESTATE   IN    ST.    LOUIS.  525 

court-house,  a  mile  and  a  half  distant  from  that  point,  at  from  $200  to 
$300  per  acre. 

"In  1843-4  a  very  large  amount  of  the  land  owned  by  the  city,  known 
as  the  Common,  was  disposed  of  at  an  average  of  less  than  $50  per  acre. 
The  amount  originally  owned  by  the  city  was  4,293  arpens.  In  1836  the 
city  was  authorized  by  the  legislature  to  sell  the  same.  The  sale  amounted 
to  $425,000,  or  nearly  $100  per  arpen.  The  purchasers  imagined,  how- 
ever, that  they  had  agreed  to  pay  too  much,  and  neglected  to  make  their 
payments.  Their  rights  were  consequently  declared  forfeited,  and  the 
city,  in  1843,  proceeded  to  sell  to  other  parties.  In  the  year  1850,  all  of 
the  lands  owned  by  the  city,  save  about  (500  acres,  had  been  disposed  of, 
and  at  that  date  the  total  amount  received  by  the  city  treasury  for  the 
lands  sold  was  $163,680  !  The  land  so  sold  is  now  worth  not  less  than 
$25,000,000  !  In  the  same  year,  the  president  of  the  Board  of  Assessors 
valued  the  unsold  portions  of  the  commons — 591  acres — at  $581,391. 
He  also  valued  the  other  real  estate  of  the  city  at  $753,913,  making  the 
total  value  of  the  real  estate  then  owned  by  the  city  $1,335,304.  In  the 
year  1857,  after  the  city  had  sold  to  the  amount  of  about  $1,500,000, 
the  land  register  reported  the  value  of  real  estate  and  improvements  then 
belonging  to  the  city  at  $15,919,856  63  ! 

"  In  1843,  the  City  Council  passed  an  ordinance  limiting  the  sale  of  the 
Commons  at  not  less  than  $25  per  acre ! 

"In  1847,  I  purchased  9,"  acres  in  block  No.  66  of  the  Commons,  for 
$6,500,  with  improvements  worth  not  less  than  $4,000,  and  was  rallied 
by  some  of  my  friends,  who  regarded  it  as  an  extravagant  price.  Three 
years  later  I  sold  it  at  $13,500,  and  the  same  land  cannot  now  be  pur- 
chased for  $75, 000.  In  the  same  year  I  purchased  4^  acres  in  block  No. 
75  of  the  Commons  for  $900,  on  three  years'  time,  without  interest. 
$9,000  has  recently  been  offered  and  refused  for  the  same  tract.  In  the 
same  year  (1847)  a  friend  was  offered  a  tract  fronting  on  Lafayette 
Park,  with  a  comfortable  frame-house,  and  well  improved  with  fruit-trees, 
shrubbery,  <fec.,  for  $2,800.  He  declined  to  purchase,  stating  that  it  was 
'  too  far  out  in  the  woods.'  The  same  tract  is  worth  at  the  present  time 
not  less  than  $40,000. 

"In  the  year  1848,  Daniel  D.  Page,  Esq.,  sold  to  Mr.  David  H.  Arm- 
strong a  tract  of  twelve  acres  in  the  southern  part  of  the  city,  north  of 
the  arsenal,  at  $200  per  acre,  amounting  to  $2,400 ;  the  same  tract  is 
worth  at  this  date  not  less  than  $100,000. 

"In  1846,  the  great  statesman,  Henry  Clay,  visited  St.  Louis.  He 
owned,  with  his  son,  James  B.  Clay,  the  tract  known  as  'Clay's  old 
orchard  tract,'  and  desired  to  sell  it.  He  advertised  a  sale  to  take  place 
at  the  Court  House — 275  arpens  to  be  divided  into  tracts  of  from  five  to 
forty  acres,  to  suit  purchasers.  On  the  day  of  sale,  he  made  a  few  re- 
marks to  the  assembled  crowd,  and  concluded  by  reserving  a  single  bid 
for  himself.  Some  of  the  choice  land  in  the  tract  was  then  offered,  and 
the  highest  bid  that  could  be  obtained  was  the  reserved  bid  of  Mr.  Clay, 
which,  by  the  advice  of  Judge  Can,  he  fixed  at  $120  per  acre.  No  per- 
son being  willing  to  purchase  at  that  high  figure,  the  sale  closed,  after 
which  Mr.  Clay  offered  the  whole  tract  at  $100  per  acre.  In  1849  sixty 
or  seventy  arpens  of  the  tract  were  sold  at  an  average  of  $250  per  acre. 
In  1853,  about  sixty  acres  were  sold  at  an  average  of  $450  per  acre  ;  in 


526  REAL   ESTATE   IN   ST.    LOUIS. 

1857,  sixty-five  arpens  were  sold  at  an  average  of  $1,050  per  acre;  and 
in  1859,  four  arpens,  with  improvements  worth  about  $1,200,  were  sold 
for  $9,000,  being  about  $2,000  per  acre. 

"In  1844,  there  were  but  very  few  buildings  beyond  Tenth  street. 
Nearly  all  the  property  west  of  that  line  was  in  acres,  but  a  very  small 
portion  of  it  having  been  subdivided  into  lots.  The  city  limits  extended 
to  about  Seventeenth  street.  About  the  year  1850  or  1851,  the  sub- 
divisions had  reached  the  city  limits,  and  commenced  to  go  beyond. 
Messrs.  Leffingwell  &  Elliott  were  at  this  time  engaged  in  getting  up  a 
correct  map  of  St.  Louis  and  its  vicinity.  They  projected  the  street  now 
represented  as  Grand  avenue  as  the  western  boundary  of  the  future  city. 
It  was  originally  designed  to  be  120  feet  wide,  to  extend  from  north  to 
south  a  distance  of  about  eleven  miles,  and  at  one  point  over  three  miles 
from  the  river  or  eastern  boundary  of  the  city.  The  space  between  the 
old  city  line  and  the  proposed  'Grand  avenue,'  as  represented  upon  the 
map,  looked  exceedingly  blank,  and  the  very  large  territory  embraced 
afforded  good  grounds  for  the  belief  which  many  persons  entertained  that 
the  city  never  could  reach  Grand  avenue. 

"  Many  persons  believed,  and  were  not  backward  in  expressing  their 
opinions,  that  Messrs.  Leffingwell  &  Elliott  were  exceedingly  wild  and 
visionary  in  their  views  as  to  the  future  of  St.  Louis.  Time,  however, 
has  proven  those  views  to  be  correct.  Mr.  Elliott,  in  a  very  able  article, 
based  upon  the  increase  of  St.  Louis  during  previous  years,  predicted 
that  the  population  in  1860  would  number  175,000. 

"  The  present  census  returns  will  show  that  he  was  short  of  the  mark, 
although,  at  the  date  of  his  prediction,  there  were  but  few  who  regarded 
it  as  oracular. 

"  A  glance  at  the  recent  editions  of  Mr.  Leffingwell's  map  will  demon- 
strate that  even  Grand  avenue  is  not  to  limit  the  westward  march  of  our 
city.  Nearly  all  the  ground  east  of  Grand  avenue  has  been  subdivided, 
sold,  and  a  very  large  proportion  of  it  improved.  The  city  limits  have 
been  extended  to  Grand  avenue  and  ten  chains  beyond  it,  and  subdivisions 
are  constantly  being  made  beyond  the  city  line. 

"To  return,  however,  to  the  statements  you  desire  in  regard  to  the  in- 
crease in  the  value  of  real  estate. 

"In  1847,  Colonel  Rene  Paul  offered  me  ground  on  Chouteau  avenue, 
just  west  of  Eighth  street,  at  $10  per  foot,  on  ten  years'  credit,  with  in- 
terest at  six  per  cent.  The  same  ground  is  now  selling  at  from  $150  to 
$175  per  foot. 

"In  1845,  the  ground  on  Fourteenth  street,  between  Market  street  and 
Clark  avenue,  was  sold  at  prices  averaging  about  $12  per  front  foot.  It 
is  now  worth  at  least  $150  per  foot. 

"In  1851,  the  highest  prices  obtained  in  Stoddard's  Addition  was 
$2Gioo  per  foot,  and  the  average  was  about  $15  per  foot.  At  the  present 
time  property  which  then  sold  for  $10,  commands  readily  $125  per  foot. 

"Many  other  instances  might  be  cited,  showing  an  increase  in  the 
value  of  the  real  estate  of  the  city,  of  from  thirty  to  fifty  per  cent,  per 
annum;  but  I  have  already  wearied  your  patience,  and  close,  regretting 
that  the  pressure  of  business  has  prevented  my  giving  you  a  more  con- 
nected and  coherent  statement  of  my  '  recollections.' 
"  Respectfully  yours, 

"  HENRY  W.  WILLIAMS." 


MADAME    ELIZABETH    ORTES. 
In  her  96<A  year,  92  year*  a  resident  of  St  Louis. 

ENGRAVED  FROM    A   PHOTOGRAPH  BY  TROXELL,  EXPRESSLY   FOR  THE    "GREAT   WEST." 


MADAME    ELIZABETH    ORTES. 

MADAME  ELIZABETH  ORTES  was  born  September  27th,  1764,  at  Vincen- 
nes,  a  French  military  post  of  great  importance  on  the  Wabash.  To  have 
been  in  Indiana  at  that  early  date,  was  to  have  been  in  a  wilderness,  and 
a  vast  region  on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi  went  by  the  name  of  Illinois. 
Her  mother's  name  was  Marguerite  Dutremble,  and  that  of  her  father 
Antoine  Barada,  who,  previous  to  his  marriage,  was  a  French  soldier,  and 
served  for  some  years  in  the  French  army,  then  commanded  by  Louis  St. 
Ange  de  Bellerive.  When  Vincennes  had  been  given  up  to  the  English,  the 
very  year  after  her  birth,  her  parents  still  remained  at  the  post ;  but  see- 
ing, day  by  day,  the  old  customs  gradually  dying  away,  which,  from  long 
use,  had  become  necessary  to  their  existence ;  and  feeling,  also,  that  dis- 
like to  the  English  natural  to  the  French,  they  removed  to  St.  Louis  in 
1768.  Madame  Ortes  was  then  four  years  of  age,  and  St.  Louis  was 
founded  seven  months  before  her  birth. 

At  the  age  of  four  years,  the  memory  had  commenced  to  retain  upon 
ite  delicate  tablet  impressions  of  external  objects,  and  Madame  Ortes  dis- 
tinctly recollects  her  removal  from  Fort  Vincennes  to  St.  Louis,  and 
knows  well  the  time  when  the  little  log  church  was  built  on  Second 
street,  near  Market,  on  the  same  square  where  the  cathedral  now  stands. 
The  church  was  built  by  Jean  B.  Ortes,  who  became  her  future  husband. 
She  distinctly  recollects  the  time  when  the  French  flag  was  lowered,  and 
the  town  was  delivered  to  the  Spaniards  by  Louis  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive, 
who  was  then  commandant.  She  well  remembers  the  appearance  of  that 
distinguished  general  of  the  French,  and  the  time  when  he  died,  at  the 
house  of  Madame  Chouteau,  situated  on  the  square  opposite  the  Missouri 
Republican  office.  She  distinctly  remembers  Pierre  Laclede  Liguest,  the 
founder  of  the  city,  and  was  thirteen  years  of  age  when  he  died,  on  the 
Mississippi,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas.% 

At  fourteen  years  of  age,  Mademoiselle  Elizabeth  Barada  was  married 
to  Jean  B.  Ortes,  one  of  the  companions  of  Liguest,  who  was  a  native  of 
the  same  place,  the  county  of  Bion,  on  the  borders  of  France ;  and  their 
birth-spot  was  in  the  shadow  of  the  towering  Pyrenees.  Both  emigrated  to 
America  at  one  time,  and  they  were  together  when  the  site  of  St.  Louis 
was  chosen  and  the  trees  marked  where  the  erection  of  the  buildings  was 
to  be  commenced.  He  was  a  carpenter  and  cabinet-maker,  and  died  in 
1813,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years. 

Madame  Ortes  is  now  nearly  ninety-six  years  of  age,  and  has  lived 
ninety-two  years  in  St.  Louis.  She  has  seen  all  the  different  phases  of 
the  Mound  City,  from  1768  to  the  present  time.  She  was  a  little  girl 
during  the  first  French  domination,  and  saw  Piernas,  the  first  Spanish 
governor,  when  he  arrived  in  the  town.  She  had  grown  to  womanhood 
when  the  town  was  attacked  by  the  savages,  in  1780.  She  was  intimate 
with  the  families  of  the  different  Spanish  commandants,  and  was  in  the 
fortieth  year  of  her  age  when  the  city  was  again  delivered  to  the  com- 
missioner of  the  French,  and  on  the  following  day  was  consigned  to  a 
23 


530  MADAME    ELIZABETH    ORTES. 

representative  of  the  United  States,  and  the  star-spangled  banner  floated 
from  the  battlements.  She  has  witnessed  all  the  changes  St.  Lonis  has 
undergone  during  the  almost  century  of  its  existence.  She  has  seen  the 
little  log  cabins  of  one  story,  as  they  grew  tottering  by  the  decaying 
fingers  of  Time,  supplanted  by  palatial  buildings.  She  has  seen  the  gay, 
convivial,  and  happy  inhabitants  that  once  formed  the  population,  go, 
one  by  one,  to  their  "narrow  house;"  and  a  new  people,  with  different 
tastes,  and  animated  by  mercenary  motives,  are  Jiving  and  breathing 
around  her.  Every  thing  has  become  more  attractive  to  the  eye — shows 
the  march  of  intellect  and  civilization ;  but  the  atmosphere  created  by 
sympathetic  influence  has  been  chilled,  and  the  warm  sunshine  of  happi- 
ness, which  radiated  the  days  of  the  former  inhabitants,  is  now  wanting. 

Time  has  dealt  gently  with  Madame  Ortes.  Though  ninety-six  years  of 
age,  her  health  is  good,  spirits  buoyant,  and  her  mind  lucid  and  active. 
Her  memory  is  most  astonishing,  and  she  loves  to  talk  of  the  time  that 
has  passed,  of  the  persons  who  were  the  companions  of  her  childhood, 
and  with  whom  she  associated  in  the  spring  and  summer  of  her  life.  She 
was  always  of  a  happy  nature,  lived  a  retired  life,  never  was  troubled  by 
worldly  wants,  and,  to  use  her  own  graphic  expression,  "  her  cellar  was 
always  full."  To  these  salutary  causes  is  to  be  attributed  the  health  and 
the  length  of  life  she  has  enjoyed.  We  are  happy  to  relate  that  she  has 
resided,  since  the  death  of  her  husband,  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Josepii 
Philibert,  her  son-in-law,  having  at  her  command  all  worldly  comforts. 
She  is  surrounded  by  her  grandchildren  and  great-grandchildren,  and  in 
their  society  almost  forgets  the  infirmities  and  regrets  of  age,  and  lives 
a  life  of  comparative  happiness. 


PIEKEE    CHOUTEAU,    ESQ. 

(p.  631.) 

ENGRAVED   EXPKE8SLY   FOB  THIS   WORK   FROM    X   MINIATURK   PAINTING. 


THE   CHOUTEAU   FAMILY. 

THERE  is  no  family  tttat  now  lives  or  has  lived  in  St.  Louis,  that  is  so 
identified  with  the  city  as  the  Chouteau  family.  The  name  is  familiar  to 
all  classes  of  citizens,  and  a  sketch  of  its  history  will  be  a  record  of  unu- 
sual interest.  It  was  from  the  beautiful  country  bordering  upon  the  Po 
in  France  that  a  member  of  the  family,  in  the  person  of  a  youth  called 
Rene  Chouteau,  first  emigrated,  and  came  first  to  Canada,  and  afterward 
to  New  Orleans,  where  he  engaged  successfully  in  trading  with  the  Indi- 
ans; and  there  married  Mademoiselle  Therese  Bourgeois;  and  five  chil- 
dren were  the  fruit  of  the  marriage,  namely,  Auguste,  Pierre,  Pelagic,  Ma- 
rie Louise,  and  Victoire. 

The  eldest  of  these  children,  Auguste  Chouteau,  at  an  early  period  gave 
indications  of  business  talent,  and  attracting  the  attention  of  Pierre  La- 
clede  Liguest,  when  he  was  making  preparations  for  the  trade  with  the 
Indians  of  the  Missouri  and  Upper  Mississippi  rivers,  he  offered  him  a  po- 
sition of  trust,  which  was  accepted,  and  previous  to  starting  from  New  Or- 
leans he  had  so  ingratiated  himself  in  the  favor  of  his  employer,  that  he 
became  the  second  in  command ;  and  the  position  of  the  son  being  one 
of  trust  and  importance,  the  mother  and  family  started  with  the  expedi- 
tion for  the  new  post  that  was  to  be  established  on  the  Mississippi. 

The  expedition  first  landed  at  St.  Genevievc,  and  after  leaving  there,  a 
few  families  stopped  at  Kaskaskia,  among  whom  was  that  of  Madame 
Chouteau,  with  the  exception  of  Auguste  Chouteau,  who,  as  next  in  com- 
mand to  Liguest,  conducted  the  expedition  to  Fort  de  Chartres.*  From 
Fort  de  Chartres,  Auguste  Chouteau  started  with  Liguest,  and  a  few  picked 
men,  for  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  to  discover  a  site  for  the  trading  post 
which  was  to  be  their  future  home.  In  this  voyage  the  site  where  St. 
Louis  now  stands  was  chosen,  and  the  trees  sliced  to  mark  the  spot  where 
the  first  buildings  were  to  be  erected.  After  returning  to  Fort  de  Char- 
tres, Auguste  Chouteau,  directly  navigation  would  permit,  started  with 
thirty  picked  men,  by  the  order  of  Liguest,  to  commence  building  upon 
the  spot -previously  selected,  and  the  cabins  for  the  men  and  the  ware- 
house for  the  goods  were  built,  and  also  the  commencement  of  the  build- 
ing which  afterward  became  known  as  the  old  Chouteau  Mansion,  but 
lately  torn  down,  and  which  stood  on  the  square  between  Main  and  Sec- 
ond, and  Market  and  Walnut  streets. 

Six  months  after  the  little  colony  had  become  settled  and  somewhat 
comfortable,  Madame  Chouteau  and  her  children,  who  had  been  left  at 
Kaskaskia,  moved  to  the  new-named  town  of  St.  Louis,  and  a  few  months 
afterward  resided  in  the  square  situated  between  Second  and  Main,  and 
Chestnut  and  Walnut  streets,  where  Madame  Chouteau  resided  until  her 
death. 


*  See  deposition  of  Jean  Baptiste  de  Riviere  dit  Baccane,  as  recorded  in  Hunt's  Min- 
utes, in  the  United  States  Recorder's  office. 


534  THE  CHOUTEAU  FAMILY. 

Augustc  Chouteau,  the  eldest  son  of  the  family,  had  a  business  educa- 
tion, and  to  him  was  committed  the  charge  of  surveying  the  precincts  of 
the  new  town,  in  which  work  he  was  assisted  by  his  brother,  Pierre  Chou- 
teau. He  then  became  a  merchant  and  Indian  trader,  and  after  the  death 
of  Liguest  in  1778,  he  was  selected  by  Antoine  Maxent,  the  partner  of 
the  deceased,  to  administer  upon  the  estate,  and  in  the  Spanish  archives 
still  in  existence  in  our  court-house,  is  to  be  found  a  paper  of  Antoine 
Maxent,  bearing  testimony  to  the  confidence  he  had  in  the  administrator, 
and  his  satisfaction  in  the  manner  in  which  the  business  confided  to  him 
had  been  adjusted.* 

The  house  in  which  Liguest  lived,  was  purchased  by  Auguste  Chouteau, 
after  his  death,  when  offered  for  public  sale  in  1779,  for  the  sum  of  three 
thousand  livres.  This  was  for  the  whole  square,  and  was  a  large  price  for 
property  at  the  time ;  but  it  must  be  recollected  that  though  land  was 
comparatively  nothing  in  value,  buildings  were  dear,  and  the  one  of  Li- 
guest was  the  best  in  the  village.  Colonel  Auguste  Chouteau  soon  after- 
ward greatly  enlarged  the  house,  and  it  became  known  as  the  Choteau 
Mansion,  and  around  it  was  built  a  wall  having  portholes  for  cannon  ;  and 
often,  when  alarmed  from  fear  of  the  Indians,  many  of  the  inhabitants 
would  take  shelter  within  its  gates.  As  the  city  grew  it  was  again  new 
modeled  and  with  all  the  elegance  that  wealth  could  command,  though 
preserving  many  of  its  primitive  quaint  features,  which  added  to  its  inter- 
est.f  In  that  mansion  Colonel  Auguste  Chouteau  resided  until  hisdeath, 
which  took  place  in  1829. 

Under  Governor  Lewis,  Auguste  Chouteau  received  the  appointment  of 
colonel — was  one  of  the  judges  of  the  territorial  courts,  and  a  commis- 
sioner of  the  general  government  to  treat  with  the  Indians.  He  was  also 

*  See  Archives. 

f  When  it  was  in  contemplation  to  tear  this  old  house  down,  it  gave  birth  to  the  follow- 
ing beautiful  poetical  effusion  from  the  New  Orleans  Picayune : 

THE   CHOUTEAU  HOUSE.- 

BY  M.   C.   FIELD. 

Touch  not  a  stone !     An  early  pioneer 

Of  Christian  sway  founded  his  dwelling  here, 

Almost  alone. 

Touch  not  a  stone !     Let  the  Great  "West  command 
A  hoary  relic  of  the  early  land ; 

That  after  generations  may  not  say, 
"  All  went  for  gold  in  our  forefather's  day, 
And  of  our  infancy  we  nothing  own." 
Touch  not  a  stone ! 

Touch  not  a  stone !     Let  the  old  pile  decay, 
A  relic  of  the  time  now  pass'd  away. 

Ye  heirs,  who  owiu 
Lordly  endowment  of  the  ancient  hall, 
I  Till  the  last  rafter  crumbles  from  the  wall, 

And  each  old  tree  around  the  dwelling  rots. 
Yield  not  your  heritage  for  "  building-lots." 
Hold  the  old  ruin  for  itself  alone ; 
Touch  not  a  stone ! 


lllffftiififiitin 


BARNUM'S    CITY    HOTEL, 

OOOTTPYING  A  PORTION  OF  THE  8QTTAKE  ON  WHICH  THE  OLD  CHOTJTKAU    MANSION   FORMERLY  STOOD. 


THE    OLD     C  H  0  U  T  E  A  U     MANSION. 

RKGRAVET)    EXPRESSLY    FOB    TH18    WORK    FROM    AN  OLD  DRAWING   IN    THE    POSSESSION  OF   3.  C. 

BARLOW,  KSQ, 


THE  CHOUTEAU  FAMILY.  535 

president  of  the  old  Bank  of  St.  Louis  and  the  old  Bank  of  Missouri. 
During  the  time  of  the  Spanish  commandants,  he  possessed  their  confi- 
dence and  friendship,  and  may  be  said  to  have  been  the  prime  vizier  of  all 
of  them.  He  for  a  long  time  owned  the  only  mill  in  the  place,  assisted 
in  building  the  first  church  in  1770,  built  the  first  distillery  in  1789,  and 
during  the  Spanish  domination  was  the  leading  and  enterprising  spirit  of 
the  time.  After  the  change  of  government,  he  was  regarded  by  the  Amer- 
ican people  as  a  man  possessing  a  high  sense  of  honor  and  a  benignant 
disposition. 

In  early  life  he  married  Mademoiselle  Therese  Cerre, -and  had  seven 
children,  bearing  names  as  follows  :  Auguste,  Gabriel,  Henri,  Edward,  Ula- 
lie,  Louise  and  Emilie. 

Pierre  Choutean,  who  was  the  brother  of  Auguste,  came  to  St.  Louis, 
according  to  the  ancient  record,  with  his  mother,  as  has  been  related  be- 
fore, about  six  months  after  the  founding  of  the  post.  From  early  youth 
he  evinced  a  passion  for  trading  with  the  Indians,  and  being  taken  into 
partnership  by  his  brother  Auguste,  to  him  was  confided  the  trading  with 
the  savages,  and  most  of  the  years  of  his  active  life  were  spent  amid  the 
wilds  of  the  Missouri,  encountering  all  the  hardships  and  vicissitudes  then 
incident  to  the  life  of  the  trader.  He  may  truly  be  said  to  have  been  the 
pioneer  of  the  fur-trade,  which  in  after  years  became  the  source  of  the 
wealth  of  St.  Louis  and  of  interest  to  the  Union.  In  1804  he  gave 
up  the  Indian  trade,  and  was  appointed  under  Jefferson  agent  for 
the  Indians  west  of  the  Mississippi  river.  During  the  "Celebration 
of  the  Anniversary  of  the  Founding  of  St.  Louis,"  he  was  the  oldest 
settler  in  St.  Louis,  and  presided  at  the  festival  on  that  occasion.  He  was 
twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Mademoiselle  Pelagic  Kiersereau,  and 
four  children  were  the  issue  of  the  marriage,  namely,  Auguste,  Pierre, 
Paul  Liguest,  and  Pelagic.  His  second  wife  was  Mademoiselle  Brigette 
Saucier,  by  whom  he  had  five  children,  named  as  follows :  Frances,  Cyp- 
rien,  Pharamond,  Charles  and  Frederick.  He  died  at  the  advanced  age 
of  ninety-one. 

We  have   now  given  a  cursory  history  of  the  two  sons  of  Rene  and 


Built  by  a  foremost  Western  pioneer, 
It  stood  upon  Saint  Louis  bluff,  to  cheer 

New  settlers  on. 

Now  o'er  it  tow'r  majestic  spire  and  dome, 
And  lowly  seems  the  forest  trader's  home ; 

All  out  of  fashion,  like  a  time-struck  man, 
Last  of  his  age,  his  kindred  and  his  clan, 
Lingering  still,  a  stranger  and  alone; — 
Touch  not  a  stone! 

Spare  the  old  house !     The  ancient  mansion  spare, 
For  ages  still  to  front  the  market  square ; — 

That  may  be  shown, 

How  those  old  walls  of  good  St.  Louis  rock, 
In  native  strength,  shall  bear  against  the  shock 
Of  centuries !     There  shall  the  curious  see, 
When  like  a  fable  shall  our  story  be, 
How  the  Star  City  of  the  West  has  grown  1 
Touch  not  a  stone  ! 


536  THE  CHOUTEAU  FAMILY. 

Therese  Choutcau,  and  will  now  simply  mention  the  three  daughters  in 
their  marriage  connection. 

Pelagic  married  Sylvestre  Labadie,  a  prominent  merchant  and  Indian 
trader  in  the  early  days  of  St.  Louis,  and  had  one  son  and  four  daughters, 
namely,  Sylvestre,  Emilie,  Pelagic,  Sophia,  and  Monette. 

Marie  Louise,  the  second  daughter  of  Rene  and  Therese  Chouteau, 
married  Jean  Marie  Papin,  a  merchant  and  Indian  trader,  who  had  a  large 
family  of  seven  sons  and  five  daughters,  viz. :  Joseph,  Laforce,  Hypolite, 
Hilicour,  Villeret,  Pierre  Didier,  Dartine,  Marguerite,  Therese,  Marie 
Louise,  Sophia,  and  Emilie. 

Victoire,  the  third  daughter  of  Rene  and  Therese  Chouteau,  married 
Charles  Gratiot,  a  merchant  and  Indian  trader,  and  had  nine  children,  viz. : 
Charles,  Henri,  Pierre,  Paul,  Julia,  Victoire,  Therese,  Emilie,  and  Eza- 
belle. 

We  have  now  given  the  names  of  the  children  of  Rene  Chouteau  and 
Therese  Bourgeois,  known  as  Madame  Chouteau,  and,  likewise,  the  names 
of  those  to  whom  they  were  married,  and  the  names  of  their  children ; 
and  from  the  marriages  of  these  last  have  sprung  some  of  the  most  influ- 
ential citizens  of  St.  Louis.  We  have  now  to  complete  this  sketch  of 
the  Chouteau  family,  by  giving  a  biographical  sketch  of  one  of  its  prom- 
inent members,  whose  portrait  adorns  this  work. 


PIERRE  CHOUTEAU. 

PIERRE  CHOUTEAU  was  born  on  the  19th  of  January,  1*789.  His  father, 
after  whom  he  was  named,  and  of  whom  we  have  already  given  the  reader 
some  account  as  being  an  Indian  trader,  was  seldom  domesticated  with 
his  family,  being  called,  by  the  nature  of  his  vocation,  far  in  the  remote 
wilds  through  which  the  Upper  Mississippi  and  wild  Missouri  flow.  His 
mother,  Pelagic  Kiersereau,  had  the  whole  charge  of  the  children ;  and 
the  first  visitation  of  childish  grief  which  young  Pierre  experienced  was 
when,  at  the  age  of  four  years,  he  lost  this  estimable  parent.  After  the 
death  of  his  mother  he  was  taken  by  his  aunt,  Madame  Dahetre,  who 
lived  in  a  little  one-story  house,  at  the  corner  of  Washington  Avenue  and 
Main.  (At  that  time  Washington  Avenue  had  no  name,  and  Main  street 
was  called,  La  rue  principale). 

There  were,  in  the  early  days  of  St.  Louis,  two  French  teachers  who 
taught  all  of  the  children  of  the  little  village.  They  were  known  as  Ma- 
dame Rigache,  and  Jean  Baptiste  Trudeau  ;  and  to  them  Pierre  Chouteau 
owed  the  first  rudiments  of  education.  However,  from  the  very  first,  his 
nature  rebelled  against  confined  and  sedentary  habits ;  and  while  a  young 
boy,  he  would  listen  with  rapture  to  the  adventures  of  the  hunters  and 
trappers,  who,  at  that  time,  made  up  a  large  portion  of  the  population 
of  St.  Louis,  and  often  besought  his  father  to  let  him  go  to  the  trading 
posts  established  on  the  Missouri.  This  repeated  solicitation  was  at  length 
gratified ;  for  his  father,  having  given  up  his  trade  with  the  Indians  at 
the  change  of  government,  he  consented  in  1807  to  young  Pierre  making 
his  first  essay  as  a  trader,  which  was  at  that  time  a  kind  of  knight-errant- 
ry to  which  all  the  ambitious  French  youth  aspired. 

Panting  with  the  pressure  of  youthful  hopes,  Pierre  Chouteau  left  St. 


THE  CHOUTEAU  FAMILY.  537 

Lonis  in  August,  1807,  with  two  boats  laden  with  goods  suitable  for  the 
Indian  trade  in  that  region.  As  is  always  the  case  in  youthful  perspec- 
tive, not  more  than  one-half  of  his  hopes  were  realized.  The  expedition 
did  not  produce  the  Potosi  of  wealth  which  he  had  before  figured  up 
would  be  the  result;  and  on  the  whole  was  but  a  meagre  compensation 
for  the  hardships  he  encountered  in  his  first  experience  in  the  fur-trade ; 
for  he  wintered  upon  the  Osage,  and  that  year  the  winter  was  of  unusual 
severity. 

In  early  spring  he  returned  to  St.  Louis,  and  then,  at  the  solicitation  of 
Dubuque,  the  well-known  pioneer  miner  and  trader  of  Iowa,  went  up  to 
the  trading  post  bearing  his  nr.me,  and  on  the  site  of  which  is  now  a  flour- 
ishing city,  and  became  connected  with  the  fur  trade  of  the  Upper  Mis- 
sissippi. After  the  death  of  Dubuque,  he  came  back  to  St.  Louis,  and  in 
1819  formed  a  partnership  with  his  brother-in-law,  Berthold,  in  the  In- 
dian trade  and  general  merchandizing  business ;  and  the  store  was  kept 
in  the  second  brick  house  that  was  built  in  St.  Louis,  and  located  on 
Main  street,  between  Market  and  Chestnut  streets. 

The  firm  of  Berthold  and  Chouteau  soon  became  extensively  known, 
and  their  boats  and  trading  posts  were  familiar  to  the  numerous  tribes  of 
Indians  who  dwelt  upon  the  Missouri  and  its  tributaries.  Berthold  re- 
mained in  the  store,  and  to  Pierre  Chouteau  was  confided  the  trade  with 
the  Indians.  After  the  boats  were  dispatched  a  few  days,  he  would  start 
upon  horseback  and  take  the  road  leading  from  St.  Louis  toward  what  now 
is  Manchester,  and  which,  after  some  miles  from  the  city,  became  a  small 
Indian  path,  in  many  places  scarcely  perceptible.  After  leaving  the  set- 
tlements he  had  to  content  himself  with  Indian  comforts  in  his  business 
pilgrimage.  Some  bread  and  dried  buffalo  meat  which  he  carried  in  a 
wallet  attached  to  his  saddle,  served  as  his  sustenance  on  his  journey. 
At  night,  he  would  tether  h*is  horse  that  it  might  graze  at  pleasure,  and 
wrapping  himself  in  a  blanket,  would  lie  upon  the  earth  with  his  feet 
toward  the  fire  which  he  usually  kindled,  according  to  the  fashion  of  the 
Indians.  Frequently  in  these  wild  solitudes  he  would  come  across  small 
encampments  of  Indians,  and  would  often  accept  their  invitations  to  a 
feast;  and,  strange  to  say,  there  was  never  an  insult  offered  him,  nor  any 
attempt;  made  to  interrupt  his  journeys.  This  originated  in  a  great  meas- 
ure from  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  Indian  character,  and  a  disposition 
at  all  times  to  conciliate  their  regard  rather  than  excite  their  prejudice.* 

After  the  dissolution  of  the  firm  of  Berthold  &  Chouteau,  Pierre  Chou- 
teau became  connected  in  business  with  other  prominent  Indian  traders, 
among  whom  were  General  Bernard  Pratte,  and  Jean  P,  Cabanne.  It  is  a 
fact  deserving  of  record  that,  in  these  associations,  so  total  was  the  confi- 
dence of  each  partner  in  the  other,  that  there  were  no  written  terms  of 
copartnership,  and  never  any  difficulty  in  the  final  adjustment  of  the 
books. 


'  *  In  one  of  these  journeys  M.  Chouteau  was  accompanied  by  two  interpreters, 
Noal  Montgraiu  and  Paul  Loise.  They  started  from  St.  Louis  in  the  month  of  Decem- 
ber, and  in  a  few  days  they  were  overtaken  by  a  severe  snow-storm.  The  weather 
was  exceedingly  severe,  and  at  night  the  travellers  would  lie  down  in  the  snow,  with 
their  blankets  and  bear-skins.  The  horses  were  tethered  or  hobbled,  and  could  fare 
well  on  the  branches  of  cotton-wood  trees,  of  which  they  are  very  fond. 


538  THE  CHOUTEAU  FAMILY. 

In  1827,  Pierre  Chouteau  became  associated  with  Mr.  Astor,  and  the 
American  Fur  Company,  then  in  its  palmy  days,  was  principally  under 
his  management.  At  this  time  the  boats  ascended  the  Missouri  only  as 
far  as  the  Bluffs,  and  the  goods  were  then  taken  and  transferred  in  packs 
to  horses,  and  carried  in  that  manner  to  the  regions  of  the  Crows  and 
Blackfeet  at  a  vast  expense.  Pierre  Chouteau,  after  being  familiar  with 
the  currents  of  the  Missouri  for  many  years,  resolved  to  pass  what  was 
thought  to  be  the  Ultima  Thule  of  its  navigation.  In  1831,  he  ascended 
in  boats  to  Fort  Pierre,  which  feat  having  accomplished  successfully,  in 
the  following  year — 1832,  the  wild  Indians  living  about  the  mouths  of 
the  Yellowstone,  first  saw,  in  awe  and  surprise,  a  steamboat  in  their  midst. 
In  1834,  he  purchased  Mr.  Aster's  interest  in  the  western  branch  of  the 
company,  and  in  1836  was  established  the  present  firm  of  Pierre  Chou- 
teau, Jun.,  &  Co.,  which,  since  that  time,  may  be  said  to  have  monopolized 
all  of  the  fur-trade  of  the  Missouri  and  Upper  Mississippi  rivers.  Mr. 
Chouteau  is  also  now  engaged  extensively  in  the  iron  business. 

June  15th,  1813,  Pierre  Chouteau  married  his  cousin,  Emilie  Gratiot, 
daughter  of  Charles  Gratiot,  and  has  two  children,  both  living — his  son, 
Charles  Chouteau,  being  associated  in  business  with  him.  He  is  now  in 
the  evening  of  an  active  and  well-spent  life,  possessing  a  reputation  pure 
from  calumny,  and  enjoying  the  respect  of  all  classes  of  citizens.  He 
was  one  of  the  framers  of  the  constitution  in  1820,  and  has  been  of  much 
utility  to  the  general  government  in  assisting  in  treaties  with  the  far  and 
distant  tribes  of  Indians.  He  has  been  the  largest  fur-trader  west  of  the 
Alleghany  Mountains.  At  one  period  his  trading  area  extended  over  an 
immense  country.  It  embraced  the  whole  country  watered  by  the  Upper 
Mississippi  and  Missouri  rivers,  and  by  the  Osage,  the  Kansas,  the  Platte, 
and  the  St.  Peters ;  he  frequently  having  in  his  employ  seven  hundred 
men,  some  of  them  at  immense  salaries.  T<5  his  pilots  up  the  Missouri 
river  he  often  gave  seven  hundred  dollars  per  month,  so  as  to  secure  the 
services  of  the  most  skilful ;  and  to  this  circumstance  may  be  attributed 
the  fact  that  in  all  of  the  dangerous  navigation  incident  to  his  business, 
he  has  never  met  with  any  serious  losses. 

Pierre  Chouteau  is  connected  with  two  business  houses  in  New  York, 
one  in  the  fur-trade,  the  other  in  the  iron  business ;  his  name  is  known 
from  St.  Louis  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  from'  St.  Louis  to  flie  little 
lake  from  which  flows  the  Mississippi,  and  wherever  it  is  known  it  is 
loved  and  honored. 


JAMES    SOU  LARD,    ESQ. 


(p.  539.) 


ENGRAVED   FXP.-KH.Y   FOR    THIS   WORK    FROM    A    PHOTOGRAPH    BY   BROWN. 


THE    SOULARD    FAMILY, 

THE  name  of  Soulard,  so  identified  with  the  early  annals  of  St.  Louis, 
belongs  to  that  part  of  France  where  the  city  of  Rochefort  is  situated. 
We  will  commence  with  Antoine  Soulard,  the  second  surveyor  under  the 
Spanisli  domination  in  Upper  Louisiana,  he  having  succeeded  Martin 
Duralde,  the  first  surveyor  who  had  been  appointed  by  Piernas,  the  first 
Spanish  commandant.  His  father  figured  conspicuously  in  the  martial 
exploits  of  his  country,  and  was  a  captain  in  the  French  Royal  Navy. 
While  holding  this  rank,  in  some  engagement  with  the  English,  his  left 
arm  was  shot  off  by  a  cannon-ball. 

Antoine  Soulard,  born  at  a  time  when  France  for  many  years  presented 
the  features  of  a  recruiting  camp,  and  born,  too,  of  ancestors  who  had 
been  bred  to  arms,  gave  early  indications  of  a  preference  to  a  martial 
sphere,  and,  after  being  properly  qualified  by  an  education  at  a  military 
academy,  was  in  due  time  appointed  a  lieutenant  in  the  royal  army. 
A  little  while  after  his  appointment,  the  lowering  clouds  which  produced 
the  storm  of  the  Revolution,  began  to  gather  over  the  political  firmament 
of  France  with  portentous  gloom.  It  soon  burst  with  all  its  fury.  The 
royal  crown  was  rolled  in  the  dust,  and  the  king,  queen,  and  whole  hosts 
of  their  followers  were  swept  from  existence.  To  belong  to  the  royal 
faction  was  to  be  a  foredoomed  victim  to  the  bloody  shrine  of  wild  and 
barbarous  anarchy ;  and  Antoine  Soulard  and  many  others,  to  escape  the 
busy  axe  of  the  guillotine,  resolved  on  expatriating  themselves,  and  sailed 
for  the  United  States  in  the  year  1794.  He  landed  at  Marblehead,  Mas- 
sachusetts, with  but  a  small  quantity  of  livres  in  his  possession ;  and 
knowing  that  St.  Louis  was  peopled  principally  by  the  French,  he  at  once 
started  for  the  distant  town.  He  took  his  route  through  Pittsburgh, 
which  journey  he  performed  on  horseback,  and  from  thence  he  proceeded 
down  the  Ohio,  in  a  keel-boat  which  was  bound  for  St.  Louis. 

When  he  arrived  at  St.  Louis,  Antoine  Soulard  was  a  perfect  stranger, 
but,  self-reliant  and  determined  to  enter  promptly  on  some  sphere  of  ac- 
tive life,  he  at  once  introduced  himself  to  Zenon  Trudeau,  the  Spanish 
commandant,  but  a  Frenchman,  and  so  favorable  was  the  impression 
which  he  created,  that  the  lieutenant-governor  took  him  to  his  house,  and 
there  domiciled  him.  He  did  more.  Finding  how  superior  was  his 
education,  he  appointed  him  surveyor-general  of  the  whole  province  of 
Upper  Louisiana,  which  office  had  then  been  vacant,  and  remained  his 
true  and  staunch  friend  during  the  term  of  his  administration,  which 
expired  in  1798. 

Antoine  Soulard  was  continued  in  office  by  Delassus  de  Daluziere,  the 
last  Spanish  commandant,  during  whose  term,  from  the  profusion  of  grants, 
his  duties  were  very  onerous.  When  the  Province  of  Louisiana  was 
transferred  to  the  United  States,  he  was  continued  in  office  by  Major 


54:2  THE   SOULARD   FAMILY. 


Stoddard,  the  first  governor  of  the  province  when  it  came  in  possession 
of  the  United  States ;  and  when  the  province  came  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Territory  of  Indiana,  he  was  continued  in  his  office  by  General 
Harrison,  and  held  it  until  he  resigned. 

After  his  resignation,  Antoine  Soulard  devoted  himself  to  the  care  of 
his  farm,  situated  on  what  was  then  known  as  the  Vide  Pocke  road,  now 
Carondclet  avenue.  What  was  then  his  farm  is  now  comprised  in  the 
very  centre  of  the  southern  portion  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  It  extended 
from  what  is  known  as  Park  avenue  to  Lesperance  street,  and,  commenc- 
ing at  the  Mississippi  on  the  east,  was  bounded  on  the  west  by  Caron- 
delet  avenue.  He  had  the  finest  orchard  of  fruits  known  in  St.  Louis  or 
its  vicinity. 

Soon  after  his  advent  in  St.  Louis,  Antoine  Soulard  was  married  to 
Julia  Cerre,  daughter  of  Gabriel  Cerre,  one  of  those  who  came  from 
Kaskaskia  to  St.  Louis  a  few  months  after  its  foundation,  after  the  eastern 
portion  of  the  Province  of  Louisiana  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  English. 
He  was  consequently  the  brother-in-law  of  Colonel  Auguste  Chouteau, 
who  married  Therese  Cerre,  and  likewise  brother-in-law  of  Pascal  Cerre, 
all  children  of  Gabriel  Cerre,  who  was  engaged  at  one  time  extensively 
in  trade  with  the  Indians,  and  owned  large  landed  possessions  near  St. 
Louis. 

Antoine  Soulard  died  in  1825,  and  left  three  sons — James  G.  Soulard, 
Henry  G.  Soulard,  and  Benjamin  A.  Soulard,  all  of  whom  are  still  living. 

Antoine  Soulard  had  one  brother  and  two  sisters,  the  latter  living  and 
dying  in  France.  The  brother,  whose,  name  was  Benjamin  Soulard,  had 
a  predilection  for  military  life,  and  was  fitted  for  it  by  graduation  at  a 
military  academy.  He  was  lieutenant  in  the  navy,  and  was  at  St.  Domin- 
go (now  Hayti)  when  the  negro  insurrection  occurred,  and  the  whites 
were  nearly  all  inhumanly  massacred.  He  then  went  to  Cadiz,  Spain,  and 
for  a  short  time  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits ;  but  when  the  French 
legions  marched  into  the  country,  he  joined  their  ranks,  and  served  in 
that  eventful  war,  fortunate  at  first  for  the  French,  but  disastrous  in  its 
termination. 

After  the  giant  strength  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  forced  to  yield 
to  the  tremendous  coalition  against  him,  and  he  was  inhumanly  cast  upon 
a  barren  and  rocky  isle  in  the  wild  waste  of  ocean,  Benjamin  Soulard, 
with  many  other  French  officers,  was  restored  to  his  rank  in  the  navy, 
and  soon  after  retired — his  pension  being  the  half-pay  of  captain.  He 
carried  with  him  in  his  retirement  the  most  honorable  insignia  of  his 
profession  as  emblematic  of  his  worth.  He  was  invested  with  the  order 
of  "  The  Legion  of  Honor,"  and  also  with  that  of  "  Knight  of  St.  Louis." 
He  died  at  Kochefort. 

We  have  in  this  work  a  portrait  of  a  member  of  this  ancient  family, 
and  will  now  proceed  to  give  his  biography. 


JAMES  G.  SOULARD. 

JAMES  G.  SOULARD  was  born  in  St.  Louis,  July  17th,  1798.  He  was 
sent  to  the  well-known  schoolmaster  of  the  village,  Jean  Baptiste  Trudeau. 
After  the  retirement  of  his  father,  Antoine  Soulard,  from  the  surveyorship 


THE    SOULAED   FAMILY.  543 

of  Upper  Louisiana,  he  received  from  him  much  instruction,  as  he  had 
been  highly  educated  in  France  previous  to  his  entrance  in  the  army.  He 
was  learned  in  the  practical  duties  of  agricultural  life,  as  his  father  pos- 
sessed a  superior  farm,  whose  limits  no'w  almost  embrace  the  heart  of 
the  city  of  St.  Louis. 

James  G.  Soulard  was  married  in  early  life  to  Miss  Eliza  M.  Hunt, 
daughter  of  Thomas  Hunt  and  of  Eunice  Wellington,  both  of  Watertown, 
Massachusetts.  Her  father,  Colonel  Thomas  Hunt,  was  an  officer  in 
the  United  States  army,  and  fought  for  his  country  during  the  trying 
period  of  the  Revolution.  He  was  stationed  at  Belle  Fontaine,  then  the 
military  post  of  the  country,  before  the  building  of  the  Arsenal,  and  died 
at  the  fort,  where  he  commanded.  Four  weeks  afterward  the  amiable 
wife  and  devoted  mother  paid  the  last  debt  which  humanity  pays  to 
nature,  and  was  buried  by  the  side  of  her  husband.  The  turf  is  now 
green  above  them  both,  but  their  memories  are  still  cherished  by  friends 
and  children. 

James  G.  Soulard  has  been  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits,  which  he 
pursued  for  some  time  in  the  state  of  Illinois,  and  for  many  years  was  one 
of  the  hardy  pioneers  :on  the  outskirts  of  civilization.  He  was  for 
a  short  time  a  resident  of  Fort  Snelling,  Minnesota.  He  was  made 
deputy-surveyor  of  the  general  government,  and  while  a  resident  of  Jo 
Daviess  county,  Illinois,  he  had  so  much  the  confidence  of  the  community, 
that  he  was  elected  county  recorder  and  county  surveyor,  which  offices 
he  held  for  many  years.  For  twenty-two  years  he  fyas  resided  near  the 
flourishing  city  of  Galena,  Illinois,  where  he  has  been  farming  extensively, 
and,  by  his  taste  for  the  collection  of  the  finest  fruits,  and  skill  in  cul- 
tivating them,  he  has  done  much  to  call  the  attention  of  agriculturists 
to  the  profits  arising  from  fruit-culture,  and  the  blessing  to  the  general 
health  which  attends  their  consumption.  Mr.  Soulard  was  the  first  to 
introduce  the  grape  into  that  section  of  country,  and  now  there  are  many 
flourishing  vineyards  which  evince  the  success  of  its  cultivation.  He  was 
also  coast-master  of  Galena. 

Mr.  Soulard  has  a  large  family  of  children — one  son  and  seven  daugh- 
ters. The  daughters  are  all  married.  He  is  blessed  with  still  a  fine' 
constitution,  though  he  has  drawn  heavily  upon  it  during  the  hardships 
incident  to  his  pioneer  life,  and  Time  has  but  gently  touched  him  during 
the  more  than  threescore  years  of  his  existence,  leaving  scarcely  an 
evidence  yet  of  his  "decaying  fingers."  His  health  is  vigorous,  his 
step  elastic,  his  form  erect,  and  possessing  no  mark  of  the  decrepitude 
of  age.  He  is  warm  and  constant  in  his  friendship,  and,  from  his  ami- 
able deportment,  has  always  been  popular.  He  was  born  in  St.  Louis 
when  it  was  under  a  foreign  domination,  and  is  one  of  the  few  still  left 
who  recollect  when  our  great  Metropolis  had  less  than  one  thousand 
inhabitants. 


THE  RIGHT  REV.   CICERO  STEPHENS  HAWKS,  D,  D., 

BISHOP    OF    MISSOURI. 

THE  distinguished  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  May  26th,  1812, 
at  Newborn,  North  Carolina.  His  father's  family  was  of  English  extrac- 
tion, and  his  mother's  was  of  Irish  origin.  They  settled  in  North  Carolina 
at  an  early  day.  It  was  his  misfortune,  however,  never  to  know  the 
sweetest  boon  of  childhood — a  mother's  affection,  she  having  died  when 
he  was  but  two  years  of  age.  She  was  exemplary  as  a  Christian,  a  wife, 
and  mother.  His  father,  Francis  Hawks,  had  nine  children,  of  which  the 
subject  of  this  memoir  was  the  youngest  son,  and  on  the  death  of  the 
mother,  he  was  taken  under  the  affectionate  charge  of  the  eldest  sister, 
Phebe,  who  afterward  married  the  Hon.  Walter  Anderson,  late  chief- 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Florida,  and  who  still  survives  her  dis 
tinguished  husband,  and  resides  in  Pensacola.  It  may  be  here  remarked 
that  the  two  eldest,  brothers  belong  to  the  ministry.  The  Rev.  Francis 
L.  Hawks,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  is  the  present  rector  of  Calvary  Church,  New 
York,  arid  the  Rev.  William  N.  Hawks  is  the  rector  of  Trinity  Church, 
Columbus,  Georgia;  both  of  them  are  learned,  popular,  and  eloquent 
divines,  and  the  former  has  been  thrice  elected  bishop. 

The  father  of  Cicero  Stephens  Hawks  gave  to  him  all  the  advantages 
of  an  early  education,  and  among  his  first  classical  teachers  was  the  late 
Right  Rev.  George  W.  Freeman,  D.  D.,  missionary  bishop  of  the  south- 
west. After  a  due  preparatory  course,»at  the  age  of  fifteen  he  entered 
the  Sophmore  class,  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina.  He  was  inde- 
fatigable as  a  student;  not  only  did  he  excel  in  his  scholastic  duties,  but 
there  were  none  who  could  compete  with  him  in  knowledge  of  general 
literature.  He  remained  three  years  at  the  University,  and  then  grad- 
uated. Whilst  there  he  gave  indications  of  his  future  eminence.  His 
mind  was  comprehensive,  brilliant,  and  logical,  and  his  memory  so  impres- 
sive that  whatever  it  acquired  was  ever  after  recorded  upon  its  tablet. 

After  leaving  college,  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  his  father,  and 
his  own  inclination,  he  commenced  the  study  of  the  law  in  his  native 
town,  under  instruction  of  the  late  Hon.  Wm.  Gaston,  one  of  the  most 
accomplished  jurists  and  statesmen  of  his  time.  He  had  almost  com- 
pleted his  legal  studies  when  his  father  died,  and,  forming  new  plans  for 
the  future,  in  1833  he  went  to  New  York,  furnished  with  introductory 
letters  to  Chancellor  Kent  and  other  prominent  gentlemen,  and  for  a 
short  time  continued  to  pursue  his  studies  for  the  legal  profession. 

A  little  while  after  his  advent  in  New  York,  his  ambition  became  chas- 
tened, and  his  early  views  became  elevated,  by  reading  some  authors  on 
theology  under  the  awakening  influences  of  conscience ;  he  felt  a  call  to 
the  ministry,  and  under  the  direction  of  his  brother,  the  Rev.  Francis  L. 


THE    EIGHT    E  E  V .    C  I  C  E  E  O    S  T  E  P  II  E  N  S    HAWKS,    D .    D  . , 

SisJiOp  of  Missouri. 

(p.  545.) 
Exr.r.Avr.n  i  XPKF.SSLY  For.  THIS  AVOKK  FROM  A  rnoTor.RArn  KV  BROWN. 


BISHOP    HAWKS.  547 


Hawks,  he  commenced  his  course  of  studies,  and  was  ordained  a  deacon 
by  Bishop  Onderdonk,  of  New  York.  His  first  charge  of  a  congregation 
was  in  Ulster  county,  New  York ;  he  officiated  also  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Red  Hook.  When  he  had  attained  the  age  of  twenty-four,  he  was 
qualified  with  the  full  powers  of  the  ministry.  He  received  many  invita- 
tions, to  preside  over  congregations,  from  different  sections  of  the  Union, 
and  finally  accepted  the  rectorship  of  Trinity  Church,  Buffalo.  His  win- 
ning and  efficient  eloquence,  and  the  influence  of  an  exemplary  life,  soon 
increased  the  number  of  his  parishioners,  and  it.  was  necessary  to  build 
another  church  of  larger  dimensions,  and  he  was  beloved  by  his  numerous 
congregation. 

In  1843,  he  received  an  invitation  to  the  rectorship  of  Christ's  Church, 
St.  Louis,  which  he  accepted  by  the  advice  of  his  friends.  He  became 
at  once  most  popular  in  the  new  field  of  his  labors,  and,  with  the  wishes 
of  the  resident  ministry  of  the  diocese  of  Missouri,  in  1844,  he  was 
elected  bishop  unanimously  by  the  House  of  Bishops,  and  the  election 
confirmed  by  the  House  of  Clerical  and  Lay  Deputies ;  and,  October  20, 
1844,  he  was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Chase  of  Illinois,  in  Christ  Church, 
Philadelphia ;  Bishops  Chase  and  Cobbs,  the  former  of  New  Hampshire, 
and  the  latter  of  Georgia,  were  consecrated  at  the  same  time.  Bishop 
Hawks,  we  believe,  is  the  youngest  bishop  that  has  ever  been  consecrated 
in  the  Episcopal  Church.  He  was,  at  his  consecration,  only  thirty-two 
years  of  age.  Possessing  an  expansive  and  comprehensive  mind,  he  was 
soon  familiar  with  his  new  sphere,  and  his  administration  over  his  exten- 
sive diocese  has  been  popular  and  efficient. 

In  1847,  Bishop  Hawks  received  the  honorary  degree  of  D.  D.  from 
the  University  of  Missouri ;  at  the  same  time  that  of  LL.  D.  was  conferred 
on  the  late  Thomas  H.  Benton. 

In  1849,  St.  Louis  was  visited  by  the  most  dangerous  of  all  known 
maladies,  the  Asiatic  cholera.  It  was  at  this  season  of  tribulation,  when 
life  held  by  so  precarious  a  tenure,  and  hundreds  were  flying  from  the  city, 
that  Bishop  Hawks  was  found  ministering  comfort  by  the  side  of  the  sick 
and  the  dying.  He  acted  truly  the  part,  during  this  fearful  crisis,  of  an 
exemplary  Christian  and  a  faithful  pastor  to  his  fold.  Five  years  after- 
ward, death  launched  his  shaft  into  his  household,  and  claimed  as  a 
victim  the  gentle  being  who  brought  happiness  to  his  hearthstone, 
the  wife  of.  his  bosom.  Her  maiden  name  was  Ann  Jones,  daughter 
of  Dr.  Hugh  and  Anna  Maria  Guyon  Jones,  of  Huguenot  descent, 
natives  of  North  Carolina.  Her  illness  was  a  lingering  one,  yet  she  was 
sustained  by  Christian  fortitude,  and  her  sufferings  assuaged  by  the  balm 
distilled  by  an  approving  conscience.  She  left  one  daughter,  still  of  a 
tender  age,  affording  solace  to  the  father  in  the  dark  hour  of  affliction. 
Bishop  Hawks  had  also  for  many  years  the  charge  of  three  of  his  deceased 
brother's  children,  two  sons  and  a  daughter,  who  are  now  comfortably 
settled  in  married  life. 

Bishop  Hawks,  while  firmly  advocating  and  maintaining  the  tenets  of 
his  Church,  has  no  sweeping  denunciation  of  others  of  different  views. 
He  is  a  true  Christian,  and  while  free  from  most  of  the  weaknesses  incident 
to  humanity,  he  is  charitable  to  the  errors  of  others.  His  mind  is  a 
repository  of  learning  garnered  from  every  source,  and  he  possesses  rare 
executive  powers.  His  writing?,  though  not  as  voluminous  as  his  friends 


548  BISHOP   HAWKS. 


and  admirers  would  wish,  are,  nevertheless,  known  and  popular,  having 
been  for  many  years  a  contributor  to  the  various  journals.  He  edited 
some  years  ago,  "  The  Boys'  and  Girls'  Library"  for  the  Messrs.  Harper' 
and  also  Appleton's  "Library  for  my  Young  Countrymen."  He  wrote 
several  of  the  volumes  of  "  Uncle  Philip's  Conversations  for  the  Young," 
and  was  the  author  of  "  Friday  Christian ;  or,  the  Firstborn  of  Pitcair'n 
Island."  In  the  pulpit,  he  wields  the  potent  power  of  true  eloquence. 
His  discourse,  convincing  by  the  strength  of  argument,  is  relieved  and 
adorned  by  appropriate  rhetorical  beauties;  and  his  manner,  without 
being  glowing  or  impressive,  has  the  gentle  fervency  of  Christian  inspira- 
tion. With  health  unimpaired,  and  his  mind  rich  in  scholastic  lore  and 
the  wealth  of  practical  experience,  the  diocese  of  Missouri  can  hope,  for 
many  years,  his  popular  superintendence. 


JOHN     S.     MoCUNF,    ESQ. 
President  of  the  Pilot  Knrfi  Jrnn,  Company. 

(p.  f>49 

KNGRAVED   EXPRESSLY    KOK   THIS    WORK    KlioM    A    PHOTOGRAPH    HV    IIKHWN 


JOHN  S.   MCCUNE, 

PRESIDENT    OF    PILOT    KNOB    IRON    COMPANY. 

JOHN  S.  McCuNEwas  born,  June  21st,  1809,  in  Bourbon  Co.,  Kentucky. 
His  parents,  John  and  Mary  McCune,  were  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
emigrated  to  Kentucky  when  much  of  the  primitive  forest  of  that  fertile 
state  towered  in  its  native  grandeur,  untouched  by  the  axe  of  the  sturdy 
pioneer.  They  appeared  to  have  had  a  partiality  for  the  excitement  of 
pioneer  life,  for  when  civilization  commenced  to  supply  the  luxuries  of 
life,  and  the  settlements  commenced  to  thicken  with  an  industrious  popu- 
lation, they  left  their  habitation  for  a  newer  country,  and  moved  near 
Bowling  Green,  Pike  county,  Missouri,  in  1817.  John  McCune,  the  elder, 
was  remarkable  for  his  innate  strength  of  mind,  which  always  made  him  a 
leader  in  the  commonwealth  in  which  he  lived.  He  was  a  skilful  agricul- 
turist, and  took  great  delight  in  possessing  fine  stock,  and  spared  no  pains 
and  expense  in  procuring  the  choicest  strains.  He  had  a  large  family  of 
eight  children,  four  of  whom  are  still  living. 

Young  John  McCune,  directly  his  size  admitted  of  labor,  assisted  his 
father  in  the  working  of  the  farm,  and  soon  became  acquainted  with  the 
healthful  and  useful  pursuit  of  agriculture.  In  1839  he  went  to  Galena, 
Illinois,  and  supplied  government  provisions  at  St.  Peter's,  Dunleith,  and 
Rock  Island,  and  continued  to  do,  for  five  years,  that  extensive  and  lucra- 
tive business.  He  then  went  to  Pike  county,  Louisiana,  where  he  erected 
a  large  flouring  mill,  and  became  engaged  also  in  merchandizing,  which 
continued  for  several  years,  when  Mr.  McCune,  feeling  that  the  field  of 
operations  was  too  circumscribed  in  the  town  of  Louisiana,  resolved  on 
moving  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  could  extend  his  business  to  the  magnitude 
he  wished.  He  disposed  of  his  concern,  and  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1841. 
He  purchased  an  interest  in  the  large  foundry  establishment  of  Samuel 
Gaty,  and  still  continues  connected  with  that  gentleman,  the  firm  being 
well  known  to  every  business  man  in  St.  Louis,  and  indeed  throughout  the 
Union. 

Enterprise  has  been  one  of  the  dominant  traits  in  Mr.  McCune's  charac- 
ter. In  1843,  believing  that  a  lucrative  trade  could  be  established  between 
St.  Louis  and  the  intervening  river  towns  to  Keokuck,  he  conceived  and 
organized  the  Keokuck  Packet  Company,  and  the  gigantic  enterprise 
startled  even  some  of  the  most  enterprising  and  venturesome  natures  in 
St.  Louis.  Most  men  predicted  a  failure,  and  even  the  friends  of  the  en- 
terprise distrusted  the  feasibility  of  the  scheme  and  feared  the  result.  De- 
spite of  all  these  gloomy  predictions,  which  appeared  sufficient  to  smother 
the  enterprise  in  its  incipiency,  Mr.  McCune  soon  had  his  line  of  packets 


552  JOHN   MCCUNE. 


plying  between  Keokuck  and  the  various  cities  between  it  and  St.  Louis 
on  the  Mississippi  river.  The  trade  proved  a  most  profitable  one  to  all 
engaged,  and  the  company  have  reaped  a  golden  harvest.  That  line  of 
packets  has  not  only  proved  the  "  philosopher's  stone"  to  their  owners, 
but  has  developed  the  resources  of  some  of  the  most  flourishing  towns  on 
the  Mississippi  river,  which  had  remained  unknown  before  the  company's 
creation.  There  are  six  boats  of  superior  elegance,  appearing  like  palaces 
on  the  water,  which  are  now  running  between  Keokuck  and  St.  Louis,  and 
to  John  S.  McCune  belongs  the  credit  of  their  existence. 

There  are  some  minds  of  such  capacity,  that  no  magnitude  of  business 
appears  sufficient  to  fill  up  its  dimensions,  and  exhaust  its  ability.  Though 
Mr.  McCune  was  connected  with  an  extensive  foundry  business,  and  the  Keo- 
kuck Packet  Company,  he  accepted  the  nomination  of  the  Presidency  of 
the  Pilot  Knob  Iron  Company  in  1857,  at  the  very  time  that  the  great 
financial  tornado  was  sweeping  through  the  country,  and  was  ruining  and 
laying  prostrate  every  variety  of  business.  The  Pilot  Knob  Iron  Company 
felt  the  pressure  upon  it,  and  its  affairs  were  in  a  tottering  condition.  To 
save  themselves  from  a  total  wreck,  they  were  on  the  eve  of  sacrificing  an 
immense  amount  of  their  stock  to  raise  the  sum  of  $300,000,  from  eastern 
capitalists,  when  McCune  assumed  the  large  liability,  and  relieved  the 
company  from  its  embarrassment.  Since  that  time  its  affairs  have  been 
in  a  most  healthful  condition,  and  the  business  is  extensive  and  lucrative. 

Mr.  McCune  was  married  May  21st,  1839,  to  Miss  Ruthora  Galesby, 
daughter  of  William  Galesby,  of  Westchester,  Pa.,  and  has  five  children. 
His  son  is  now  engaged  in  the  tour  of  some  of  the  foreign  countries,  so  as 
to  perfect  his  education  by  travel.  There  is  no  one  in  St.  Louis,  who  holds 
more  positions  of  trust.  He  is  a  director  in  the  Real  Estate  Savings  In- 
stitution, State  Mutual  Insurance  Company,  and  was  chiefly  instrumental 
in  the  establishment  of  a  district  school ;  he  is  also  a  director  in  the  Globe 
Insurance  Company,  President  of  the  Pilot  Knob  Iron  Company,  besides 
his  connection  with  the  foundry  business  and  packet  company. 


HON.     JOHN    MARSHALL    K  R  U  M  . 


|,.  Wfl.) 

HoTKLU 


HON.    JOHN    MARSHALL    KRUM. 

JOHN  MARSHALL  KRUM,  so  well  known  throughout  the  state  as  eminent 
in  his  profession,  was  born  in  Columbia  county,  state  of  New  York.  From 
a  boy,  he  was  fond  of  mental  culture,  and,  after  passing  through  the  grade 
of  instruction  afforded  by  the  common  schools,  he  went  to  Fairfield 
Academy,  under  the  charge  of  the  Rev.  John  Chassell,  and  remained 
nearly  three  years  under  the  tuition  of  that  eminent  scholar  and  divine. 
Leaving  Fairfield,  he  commenced  the  study  of  the  law,  and  so  well  did 
the  profession  assimilate  with  his  natural  affinities,  that  he  progressed  by 
far  taster  than  students  who  entered  upon  it  with  indifference,  and  in 
1833  was  admitted  to  practice. 

Mr.  Krum  was  early  dazzled  by  those  day-dreams  of  ambition  which 
are  incident  to  an  aspiring  nature,  and,  seeing  but  little  opening  in  his 
county,  he  started  for  the  West,  and  located  himself  at  Alton,  Illinois,  in 
1834.  Here  he  soon  entered  upon  a  lucrative  practice,  and  by  his  talents 
and  integrity  so  won  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  community,  that 
in  1835  he  was  appointed  by  the  governor  of  the  state  to  the  office  of 
probate  judge  of  Madison  county. 

In  1837,  when  Alton  was  incorporated  a  city,  Mr.  Krum  was  nominated 
by  the  Democratic  party  as  their  candidate  for  the  mayoralty,  and  though 
his  opponent  was  a  Methodist  divine  of  great  popularity,  he  was  tri- 
umphantly elected.  After  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  office,  he  was 
again  nominated,  but  declined  the  appointment. 

In  1838,  he  was  tendered  the  nomination  of  state  Senator,  but  de- 
clined the  nomination,  as  it  interfered  with  his  professional  duties.  In 
1839,  he  was  married  to  the  daughter  of  Chester  Harding,  a  distinguished 
artist  of  Boston,  and  in  1840  he  moved  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  could 
have  a  more  extensive  arena  to  display  his  legal  abilities.  His  reputa- 
tion as  a  lawyer  had  preceded  him,  and  his  efforts  were  successful.  After 
three  years  of  successful  practice,  he  was  appointed  judge  of  the  St.  Louis 
Circuit  Court,  whose  jurisdiction  was  far  more  extensive  than  at  present. 

While  on  the  bench,  Mr.  Krum  published  the  "Missouri  Justice,"  which 
was  received  with  favor,  and  is  a  record  of  his  industry  and  professional 
learning.  Finding  that  the  onerous  duties  of  his  office  were  undermining 
his  health,  he  resigned  his  judgeship,  and  again  resumed  his  profession. 
In  1848,  he  was  nominated  as  candidate  for  mayor,  and  was  elected, 
though  opposed  by  one  of  the  leading  and  most  popular  citizens  of  the 
place.  He  has  since  been  attending  to  the  duties  of  his  profession,  and 
is  known  as  an  able  attorney,  and  one  of  the  successful  champions  of  the 
Democratic  party. 

24 


HENRY    BOERNSTEIN, 

Publisher  of  the  " Anzeiger  des  Western"   the  oldest  German  newspaper 
west  of  the  Mississippi. 

HENRY  BOERNSTEIN  was  born  November  4th,  1805,  at  the  town  of  Ham- 
burg, one  of  the  free  German  cities  of  the  Hanseatic  league.  He  remained 
in  that  place  until  1813,  when  his  parents  emigrated  and  settled  in  Lem- 
berg,  a  city  in  Austrian  Poland,  where  young  Henry  was  sent  to  the 
University,  and  after  being  accomplished  in  the  requisite  .preliminary 
education,  commenced  and  completed  the  study  of  medicine. 

After  leaving  the  university,  Henry  Boernstein  was  so  attracted  by  the 
ostentatious  display  of  military  life,  that  he  entered  the  Austrian  army, 
and  remained  connected  with  it  during  five  years,  and  then,  with  all  of 
the  youthful  romance  which  had  been  brought  into  play  by  the  camp  and 
epaulette  banished  forever,  he  resigned  his  commission  in  the  army,  and 
took  up  his  residence  in  Vienna,  and  there  he  first  became  connected 
with  the  press,  and  was  associated  with  one  of  the  leading  journals.  Very 
soon  he  evinced  decided  dramatic  talent,  and  wrote  plays  which  became 
popular  on  the  theatrical  boards,  and  in  1826  was  appointed  secretary  of 
the  two  great  theatres  of  the  Austrian  metropolis — "  An  Der  Wien"  and 
Josephslads,  under  Director  Carl,  who  was  the  justly-celebrated  stage- 
manager  of  Germany,  and  who  has  won  a  world-wide  renown  from  the 
success  which  has  attended  his  management  of  the  dramatic  boards. 

After  remaining  three  years  under  the  instruction  of  the  greatest  stage- 
manager  in  Europe,  Henry  Boernstein  became  chief  manager  in  several  of 
the  leading  theatres  of  the  cities  of  Germany  and  Italy — at  Linz,  Agram, 
Trieste,  Venice,  and  other  cities.  He  was  not  only  known  as  a  successful 
stage-manager,  but  was  also  known  as  a  favorite  and  popular  actor,  and  in 
1841  he  and  Mrs.  Boernstein  entered  upon  a  star-engagement  tour  through 
the  principal  cities  of  Germany,  and  crowded  houses  evinced  the  apprecia- 
tion of  the  public  of  their  claims  as  dramatic  artistes. 

So  popular  was  Mr.  Boernstein  in  Germany,  that  he  determined  to  go 
to  Paris,  "the  glass  of  fashion"  of  all  European  cities,  and  in  1842  he  be- 
came manager  of  the  German  Opera,  in  that  city,  and  afterward  of  the 
Italian  Opera.  He  carried  on  at  the  same  time  correspondence  with  the 
leading  journals  of  the  day,  and  finding  that  he  could  not  conveniently 
be  an  author  and  a  stage-manager  at  the  same  time,  he  dedicated  himself 
alone  to  literature,  and  wrote  a  number  of  plays,  which  had  a  fine  run  in 
the  various  German  theatres. 

Henry  Boernstein  was  always  an  advocate  for  freedom.  His  first 
breath  was  drawn  in  a  free  city,  and  his  beau  ideal  of  a  perfect  govern- 
ment was  the  sovereignty  of  the  people ;  consequently,  when  Louis  Phi- 
lippe was  dethroned,  he  advocated  the  cause  of  those  who  supported  the 


HENRY    BOERNSTEIN,    ESQ., 

Publisher  of  the  "  Auseiger  des  Wextcn-*!."' 

(I>.  557.) 

KNORAVKIl    K.VPKK8SLY    KOK    THIS   WORK   FROM   A.    PHOTOttRAPlI    BY    BBOWN. 


HENRY    BOERNSTEIN.  559 


French  Republic;  but  when  Louis  Napoleon  became  president,  and  find- 
ing France  would  again  be  under  the  dictatorial  rule  of  a  monarch,  he 
resolved  to  go  to  a  country  which  promised  a  continuance  of  the  blessings 
arising  from  the  expansive  and  elevating  character  of  a  well-organized 
government  of  the  people.  He  embarked  for  the  United  States  Decem- 
ber 10th,  1848,  and  immediately  on  landing,  wended  his  way  to  the  west, 
and  remained  for  a  year  at  Highland,  Illinois,  looking  about  for  a  proper 
locality,  finally  to  fix  himself. 

While  at  Highland,  his  literary  abilities  became  known  through  his 
correspondence,  and  he  was  offered  the  editorship  of  the  "Anzeiger  des 
Wettent"  at  St.  Louis.  He  accepted  the  offer,  and  entered  upon  his  duties 
in  March,  1850,  and  very  soon  after  became  the  publisher  and  proprietor 
of  the  paper.  This  journal  has  always  wielded  an  immense  influence  in 
St.  Louis,  and  from  the  ability  and  good  faith  in  which  it  has  been  edited 
has  constantly  received  a  cordial  support  from  the  Germans. 

Mr.  Boernstein  has  been  true  to  the  interest  of  his  countrymen,  and 
through  many  trying  periods  of  political  warfare,  has  stood  forth  icar- 
lessly  their  champion.  He  contends,  and  rightfully,  that  the  German 
interest  is  not  a  nullity,  but  should  receive  some  consideration  in  legisla- 
tive enactments,  and  they  are  not  bound  to  sacrifice  all  their  nationalities 
because  they  do  not  agree  with  the  caprices  and  peculiar  education  of 
"  native-born  American  citizens"  who  can  claim  the  name,  merely  beause 
their  ancestors,  natives  of  some  foreign  country,  reached  our  shores  some 
years  previous  to  their  birth.  He  contends  that  the  German  citizens 
are  as  true  to  this  Republic,  and  love  and  would  fight  by  the  "  star- 
spangled  banner"  with  as  much  devotion,  as  any  other  class  of  citizens, 
and  therefore  they  have  equal  claim  to  legislative  consideration. 

Mr.  Boernstein  was  married  November  13th,  1829,  to  Miss  Mary  Stol- 
zer,  and  has  four  children,  three  sons  and  one  daughter.  By  his  talents 
and  attention  to  business,  he  has  already  amassed  a  fortune,  and  in  con- 
sequence of  the  amenity  of  his  manners,  he  is  both  socially  and  politically 
popular.  He  is  still  the  publisher  and  proprietor  of  the  Anzeiger  des 
Westens,  and  has  recently  leased  the  largest  theatre  in  St.  Louis,  fitted  it 
up  in  an  expensive  and  tasteful  manner,  and  converted  it  into  an  opera- 
house,  and  is  doing  much  to  elevate  and  improve  the  taste  of  the  citizens 
of  St.  Louis  by  the  introduction  of  the  true  classical  drama. 


HON.    FRANCIS    P.    BLAIR,    JR. 

FRANCIS  P.  BLAIR  was  born  in  Lexington,  Kentucky,  February  19th, 
1821.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Washington  county,  Virginia,  was  a 
gentleman  of  fine  scholastic  attainments,  being  a  graduate  of  Transylvania 
University,  and  as  a  journalist  and  politician,  was  well  known  throughout 
the  whole  Union.  He  was  the  first  editor  of  "The  Globe"  at  Washington 
City,  and  continued  to  preside  over  that  acknowledged  organ  of  the  Dem- 
ocratic party  until  the  advent  of  Mr.  Polk  in  the  "White  House,"  when, 
not  going  the  whole  length  prescribed  by  the  Democratic  platform,  he 
was  required  to  dispose  of  the  journal  to  Mr.  Ritchie,  who  was  the 
Nestor  of  journalists,  and  was  the  unswerving  advocate  of  Democratic 
principles,  as  established  by  conclave.  He  has  now  retired  from  the  tur- 
bid currents  of  political  life,  and  devotes  his  time  to  the  independent 
and  ennobling  pursuit  of  agriculture,  though,  previous  to  retiring  from 
the  political  field,  when  Martin  Van  Buren  advocated  the  Free-soil  doc- 
trine, and  drew  off  large  numbers  from  the  Democratic  ranks,  Mr.  Blair 
became  a  Free-soiler,  and  warmly  supported  the  new  political  doctrine. 

Francis  P.  Blair,  jr.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  brought  up  in  Ken- 
tucky until  nine  years  of  age,  when  his  father's  family  removed  to  Wash- 
ington, his  father  having  been  invited  there  the  preceding  year  to  edit 
The  Globe.  He  was  sent  early  to  school,  and,  passing  through  the  first 
gradations  of  education,  he  was  sent  to  Chapel  Hill,  North  Carolina,  and 
enjoyed  for  a  short  time  all  the  advantages  of  mental  culture  afforded  by 
that  justly-popular  institution.  His  father  being  a  scholar,  and  estimat- 
ing properly  scholastic  attainments,  then  sent  him  to  Princeton,  and  at 
the  age  of  twenty  he  obtained  his  diploma  of  graduation  at  Nassau  Hall. 

After  graduation  at  Princeton,  he  returned  to  Kentucky,  and  com- 
menced the  study  of  law  under  the  instruction  of  Lewis  Marshall,  an 
eminent  lawyer,  and  brother  of  Chief-Justice  Marshall,  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  jurists  of  our  country.  He,  however,  remained  but  a  short 
time  prosecuting  his  studies,  for  his  health  was  at  that  time  feeble,  and 
came  to  St.  Louis  on  a  visit  to  his  uncle,  Judge  Blair,  and  then  returning 
to  Kentucky,  he  went  to  the  Law  School  at  Transylvania,  where  he  con- 
tinued until  he  completed  his  legal  studies. 

Young  Blair,  when  he  visited  St.  Louis  to  see  his  brother,  had  marked 
the  vitality  everywhere  apparent  in  business,  and  believing,  from  its 
splendid  location,  in  its  great  future,  he  had  then  determined  to  make 
it  his  home  when  he  commenced  his  profession.  After  leaving  Transyl- 
vania, he  put  this  design  in  execution,  and  returned  to  St.  Louis  in  1843, 
for  the  purpose  of  practising  his  profession.  He  commenced  his  practice 
under  favorable  auspices ;  but  his  health  was  so  feeble,  it  was  much 
feared  by  his  friends  that  the  stamina  of  his  constitution  were  prematurely 
declined.  He  was  advised  by  his  physician,  so  as  effectually  to  stop  the 


HON.     FRANCIS     P.     BLAIR,     J  K  • 

(P  501  ) 

KNGKAVKU  £.\PKES8LY  KOK   THIS  WORK    FROM  A  PHOTOGRAPH    IiY  BKOWN. 


HON.    FRANCIS   P.    BLAIR,   JR.  563 

progress  of  decline,  to  alter  entirely  his  habits  and  pursuits,  and,  follow- 
ing the  advice,  he  made  a  trip  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  company  with 
some  traders  and  trappers,  and,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Mexican  war, 
joined  the  command  of  General  Kearney  in  Mexico,  serving  as  a  private 
soldier.  He  returned  to  St.  Louis  in  1847,  and  resumed  his  profession. 

Mr.  Blair  had  his  health  entirely  re-established  from  the  active,  wild, 
and  exposed  life  which  he  led  for  several  years,  and  even  enjoyed  the 
deprivations  to  which  he  was  subjected,  owing  probably  to  hereditary 
predisposition  for  that  kind  of  life,  as  his  mother  was  a  descendant  of  the 
well-known  pioneer  Gist,  one  of  the  companions  of  Daniel  Boone,  when  the 
"  Bloody  Ground"  received  its  sanguinary  baptism  in  the  early  annals  of 
Kentucky. 

In  1848,  Mr.  Blair,  following  in  the  political  footprints  of  his  father, 
advocated  the  tenets  advocated  by  the  Van  Buren  or  Free-soil  party,  and 
took  an  active  part  in  that  campaign.  He  became  a  leader  of  the  party 
at  that  time,  and  in  ]  8.52  was  elected  to  the  legislature,  and  was  re-elected 
for  the  second  year.  In  1856,  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  and  while  in 
the  House  of  Representatives  fearlessly  advocated  his  doctrines,  contend- 
ing against  the  extension  of  slavery  in  the  territories.  He  is  no  believer 
in  the  unholy  and  disgusting  tenets  advocated  by  Abolition  fanaticism, 
but  advocates  the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  Union,  and  the 
colonization  of  the  slaves  emancipated  in  Central  America,  which  climate 
appears  to  be  happily  adapted  to  their  constitutional  idiosyncracies. 

In  September  8th,  1847,  Mr.  Blair  was  joined  in  wedlock  to  Miss 
Apolline  Alexander,  daughter  of  Andrew  Alexander,  of  Woodford  county, 
Kentucky.  He  is  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  Free-soil  party,  not 
only  in  the  state  of  Missouri,  but  of  the  Union ;  and  has  ever  been  the 
friend  and  supporter  of  the  system  of  internal  improvements,  which  is  so 
rapidly  developing  the  mineral  and  agricultural  wealth  of  Missouri. 


ALEXANDER  KAYSER. 

ALEXANDER  KAYSER  was  born  at  St.  Goarshausen,  on  the  Rhine, 
February  15th,  1815.  Reinhard  Kayser,  his  father,  was  a  man  of  high 
repute  in  the  town,  and  for  twenty-eight  years  magistrate,  under  the 
Duke  of  Nassau ;  he  had  been  educated  as  an  attorney,  but,  holding 
office,  did  not  practice. 

As  might  be  inferred  from  the  high  position  of  his  father,  young  Alex- 
ander Kayser  had  every  opportunity  of  cultivating  his  mind  in  the  best 
schools,  and,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  showing  a  preference  for  architecture, 
he  was  sent  to  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  that  he  might  accomplish  himself  - 
in  that  science.  However,  he  remained  but  a  short  time  there,  owing  to 
some  reverses,  and  commenced  learning  the  carpenter's  trade.  At  the  age 
of  eighteen,  seeing  a  pamphlet,  written  by  Dr.  Duden,  a  German  physi- 
cian, who  had  travelled  extensively  over  the  United  States,  lived  some 
time  in  Warren  county,  in  this  state,  and  spoken  most  favorably  of  its 
institutions  and  resources,  he  determined  to  leave  Germany  for  the  West- 
ern Republic;  and,  accompanied  by  his  brother  Henry  and  his  sister, 
who  has  become  Mrs.  Bates,  he  left  Europe,  and,  after  a  tedious  journey, 
finally  reached  St.  Louis,  June  18th,  1833.  He  purchased  a  farm  con- 
tiguous to  St.  Louis,  on  which  his  sister  still  resides,  but,  not  liking  farm- 
ing, and  being  prostrated  by  an  attack  of  sickness,  he  went  to  Beards- 
town,  Illinois,  and  pursued  the  profession  of  teacher.  In  1838,  he 
returned  to  St.  Louis,  where  his  brother  Henry  was  employed,  in  the 
surveyor-general's  office,  and  he  obtained  a  situation  in  the  land-office, 
as  acting  register  under  the  efficient  charge  of  Mr.  De  Munn. 

During  the  municipal  magistracy  of  William  Carr  Lane,  he  was 
appointed  street  commissioner,  to  which  he  was  again  reappointed, 
during  the  administration  of  the  Hon.  John  F.  Darby;  but  he  shortly 
resigned  his  office,  commenced  the  study  of  the  law,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1841. 

In  1844,  Mr.  Kayser  was  appointed  delegate  to  the  Convention  in 
Baltimore,  and,  iri"  1846,  was  lieutenant  in  the  Mexican  War. 

In  1852,  he  was  chosen  by  the  democratic  party,  one  of  the  nine  pre- 
sidential electors  of  the  state. 

For  many  years  Mr.  Kayser  has  been  the  most  prominent  man  in  St. 
Louis,  in  taking  an  active  interest  in  grape  culture,  and  showing  how 
greatly  Missouri  is  adapted  to  the  culture  of  the  grape.  He  gave  a  pre- 
mium, in  1845,  so  as  to  bring  forward  specimens  of  the  best  native  wine, 
and,  in  1849,  offered  two  premiums  of  $100  each,  and  one  of  $125,  for 
the  same  purpose.  He  was  married  to  Miss  Eloise  P.  Morrison,  grand- 
daughter of  General  Daniel  Bissell.  He  is  an  enterprising  and  useful 
citizen,  and  highly  esteemed  in  the  state  of  his  adoption. 


ALEXANDER     KAYSER,     ESQ. 

(])  56.J.) 

KN.iKAVKI)    KXI-KKSM.Y     K.I  R    THIS    WORK    FROM     A     PHOTOGRAPH    BY    TBOXEI.I. 


MAJOR    HENEY    S.     TURNER. 
Tre<t*itrer  St.  Louis  Agricultural  &  Mechanical  Association. 

(p.  567.) 

KNGKAVKO   EXI'BKSSLY    FOR   THIS   WORK   FROM    A   PHOTOGRAPH    BY    BROWN. 


MAJOR  HENRY  S.   TURNER. 

MAJOR  HENRY  S.  TURNER  was  born  April  1st,  1811,  in  King  George's 
county,  state  of  Virginia.  His  parents  were  both  of  highly  respectable 
families  of  that  state,  his  mother  being  a  Randolph,  a  name  so  well  known 
and  honored  in  the  Old  Dominion.  Young  Turner's  early  education  re- 
ceived proper  attention,  and,  after  a  preliminary  preparation,  he  was  sent 
to  West  Point  Academy,  in  which  institution  he  remained  four  years,  and 
successfully  passed  through  the  physical  and  mental  ordeal  to  which  the 
cadets  are  subjected  before  they  are  admitted  as  officers  in  the  service  of 
the  United  States. 

As  an  officer,  Henry  S.  Turner  occupied  'a  prominent  position  ;  and 
when  first-lieutenant  of  dragoons  was  honored  by  his  country's  preference, 
being  selected,  with  two  other  officers  of  the  same  regiment,  to  be 
sent  to  the  Royal  School  of  Cavalry,  at  Saumur,  France,  for  the  purpose 
of  learning  the  cavalry  tactics,  which  the  French  had  carried  to  such  re- 
markable perfection.  He  creditably  acquitted  himself  of  his  honorable 
mission  ;  and  after  a  residence  of  fifteen  months  at  the  Royal  Military 
Academy,  he  returned  to  the  United  States  in  1840.  Immediately  on 
his  return  home,  being  assisted  by  one  of  his  colleagues  who  had  accom- 
panied him  abroad,  he  translated  the  French  Cavalry  Tactics,  and  by 
judicious  modifications,  adapted  them  to  the  requirements  of  our  service. 
So  highly  were  his  labors  appreciated  that  his  work  is  now  the  standard 
authority  of  the  cavalry  corps  of  the  United  States. 

Unfortunately,  the  life  of  a  soldier,  from  the  controlling  nature  of  his 
vocation,  being  liable  to  be  ordered  at  any  time  to  any  part  of  the  Union, 
and  at  all  times  subjected  to  the  dangers  of  the  battle-field  in  the  emer- 
gency of  war,  compels  many  officers  to  a  life  of  celibacy,  who  are  formed 
by  nature  to  appreciate,  to  their  fullest  extent,  the  honorable  and  endear- 
ing relation  of  husband  and  father.  Though  Henry  S.  Turner  was  early 
ambitious  of  gathering  the  honors  incidental  to  his  military  career,  he  was 
not  proof  against  the  poetical  maxim  of  the  Mantuan  bard,  "Amor  vincit 
omnia,  et  cedamus  amori?  Having  become  acquainted  with  Miss  Julia 
M.  Hunt,  the  beautiful  and  accomplished  daughter  of  Theodore  Hunt  and 
Anne  Lucas,  he  sought  her  hand  in  marriage,  and  the  nuptials  took  place 
in  February,  1841.  Lieutenant  Turner,  since  he  had  become  an  officer 
of  the  United  States,  however  he  may  have  thirsted  for  military  glory, 
from  the  comparative  state  of  peace  of  the  country,  had  been  doomed  to 
inaction.  At  length  there  were  threatening  signs  on  the  political  horizon, 
and  it  became  apparent  to  all  that  a  storm  was  brewing  between  our 
country  and  Mexico.  Since  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto,  in  which  a  United 
States  general  and  United  States  citizens  were  chiefly  instrumental  in 
defeating  the  troops  of  Mexico,  that  power  had  ever  regarded  our  govern- 
ment with  a  jealous  and  malignant  eye;  and  when  by  treaty  the  lone  star 
of  Texas  shone  in  the  glorious  constellation  of  our  Union,  she  declared 
that  Texas  was  still  a  province  of  her  dominions,  and  evidently  determined 
to  bring  about  a  collision.  In  the  war  which  followed,  Lieutenant  Turner 


570  MAJOR    HENRY    S.    TURNER. 

took  an  active  and  chivalrous  part,  serving  through  the  entire  campaign, 
and  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  captain. 

In  1848  Captain  Turner  was  breveted  major;  and  in  the  records  of  the 
war  department  is  the  honorable  testimonial  of  the  nature  of  his  promo- 
tion— "  for  gallant  and  meritorious  conduct  in  the  battles  of  San  Pasqual, 
San  Gabriel,  and  Plains  of  Mesa  in  California." 

In  1 848  Major  Turner  retired  from  the  army  and  turned  his  attention 
to  the  pleasing  pursuits  of  agriculture  near  St.  Louis.  He  remained 
thus  engaged  till  1850,  when  he  received  the  appointment  of  assistant- 
treasurer  of  the  United  States  at  St.  Louis,  which  office  he  held  until 
1853,  when  he  resigned,  and  going  to  California,  there  established  the 
banking-house  of  Lucas,  Turner  &  Co.  This  house  remained  in  operation 
until  1855,  when  Major  Turner  returned  to  St.  Louis  and  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  banking  firm  of  Lucas  &  Sirnonds,  in  which  he  continued  until 
the  dissolution  of  copartnership  in  1858.  In  this  year  he  was  solicited  to 
become  a  candidate  for  the  General  Assembly  of  Missouri,  and  was  elected 
to  that  honorable  body. 

Major  Turner  is  well  known  to  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis,  and  is 
popular  with  all  classes  of  the  community.  He  possesses  the  frankness  of 
the  soldier,  is  warm  in  his  friendship,  and  has,  in  a  remarkable  degree, 
that  suavity  of  manner  which  characterizes  the  well-raised  sons  of  the 
"Old  Dominion."  He  is  a  zealous  advocate  of  internal  improvements, 
and  is  ready  to  second  all  works  of  public  enterprise.  He  is  practical  in 
his  thoughts,  zealous  and  earnest  in  action,  and  is  known  as  an  efficient 
worker  both  in  a  military  and  civil  capacity.  He  was  one  of  the  corpora- 
tion of  the  St.  Louis  Agricutural  and  Mechanical  Association,  and  since 
its  commencement  has  held  the  responsible  trust  of  treasurer  of  the 
association. 

Major  Turner  has  filled  many  vocations  in  life,  and  all  of  them  with 
ability.  As  a  banker  he  was  honorable,  and  versed  in  all  the  commercial 
finesse  of  the  day  ;  as  a  legislator  he  is  liberal,  practical,  and  comprehensive 
in  his  views;  and  as  a  military  officer,  the  official  documents  of  the  war 
department  bear  testimony  to  his  merit,  and  the  book  of  French  cavalry 
tactics  which  he  translated  and  modified  to  the  requirements  of  our  ser- 
vice, of  his  talents  and  acquirements. 


DR.   WILLIAM   CARR  LANE, 

FIRST    MAYOR    OF    ST.   LOUIS. 

WILLIAM  CARR  LANE  was  born  December  1st,  1789,  in  Fayettc  county, 
Pennsylvania.  His  ancestors  were  of  English  origin,  with  the  excep- 
ception  of  one  branch,  which  was  Irish,  and  came  at  a  very  early 
period  to  Virginia.  For  many  years  they  made  the  "  Old  Dominion" 
their  home,  until  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir  emigrated  with 
his  family  to  Pennsylvania.  They  were  highly  esteemed  in  their  new 
home ;  the  father  being  an  opulent  farmer  and  very  popular,  was  elected 
repeatedly  to  the  state  senate. 

William  Carr  Lane,  in  his  youth,  had  good  advantages  of  education. 
His  father  being  a  man  of  sound  practical  sense,  knew  how  important 
was  the  wealth  of  the  mind,  and  sent  him  to  the  most  respectable  in- 
stitutions of  learning,  that  he  might  fit  himself  for  any  profession,  and 
be  qualified  for  any  career  in  life.  He  first  had  all  of  the  advantages 
which  the  country  schools  of  his  neighborhood  could  give,  then  an  aca- 
demical education,  and  finally  completed  his  course  at  Jefferson  College, 
Pennsylvania,  where  he  remained  for  three  years  enjoying  all  of  the  ad- 
vantages afforded  by  that  justly  celebrated  institution.  From  there,  after 
a  short  sojourn  at  home,  still  further  to  perfect  him  in  his  education,  he 
was  sent  to  Dickinson  College  of  the  same  state,  where  he  remained  for 
two  years.  Being  then  fully  competent  to  pursue  any  vocation,  he  shortly 
afterward  moved  to  Louisville,  Kentucky,  and  commenced  the  study  of 
medicine  under  the  instruction  of  Drs.  Collins  and  Johnson,  both  eminent 
physicians. 

In  1813,  Dr.  William  Carr  Lane  had  that  passion  for  military  glory 
which  appears  to  spring  spontaneously  from  the  warm  blood  of  youth, 
and  which  every  young  man,  at  some  time  in  the  April  of  his  life,  ex- 
periences. As  a  volunteer,  he  joined  a  brigade  commanded  by  Colonel 
Russell,  of  the  regular  army,  in  a  campaign  against  the  North-west  Indians, 
the  whole  expedition  being  under  the  command  of  Major  Taylor,  after- 
ward the  renowned  Mexican  hero  and  president  of  the  Union. 

At  the  close  of  the  expedition,  the  professional  services  of  Dr.  Lane 
were  called  into  requisition,  and  he  filled  the  appointment  of  surgeon's- 
mate  at  Fort  Harrison ;  but  losing  his  health,  he  was  ordered  to  the  sta- 
tion at  Vincennes,  and  soon  afterward  resigned  his  appointment  in  the 
army.  However,  in  a  short  time,  receiving  an  appointment  of  surgeon's 
mate  in  the  regular  army  he  accepted  it,  and  in  that  capacity  remained 
until  ill  health  again  compelled  him  to  retire.  He  then  attended  a  course 


572  DK.    WILLIAM   CAKR   LANE. 

of  medical  lectures  at  the  university  of  Pennsylvania,  and  at  the  completion 
of  the  course  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  surgeon,  and  retained  in 
service  though  the  army  had  been  reduced  to  a  peace  establishment. 

In  1818,  Dr.  Carr  Lane  married  Miss  Mary  Ewing,  daughter  of  Nathan- 
iel Ewing,  Esq.,  of  Vincennes,  Indiana,  and  having  sent  in  his  resignation 
of  surgeon  in  the  army,  which  was  accepted  with  reluctance,  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  1819,  he  came  to  St.  Louis,  and  devoted  himself  wholly  to 
the  duties  of  his  profession,  and  soon  became  one  of  the  leading  physicians 
of  the  place.  However,  it  was  but  a  short  time  that  he  was  permitted  to 
devote  his  entire  time  to  his  profession,  for,  when  Missouri  became  a  state, 
he  was  appointed  the  first  quartermaster-general ;  and  when  St.  Louis 
became  incorporated  a  city  he  was  elected  the  first  mayor. 

So  well  satisfied  were  the  people  with  the  administration  of  Dr.  Lane, 
that  he  was  elected  for  six  consecutive  years,  and  after  an  interim  of  some 
years  he  was  again  elected  to  the  office,  and  served  a  second  term  of  three 
years.  His  labor  during  his  official  administration  over  municipal  aft'airs 
was  untiring.  During  his  first  administration  there  was  but  little  pave- 
ment, and  in  some  seasons  of  the  year  the  streets  were  almost  impassable  from 
the  mud,  the  government  of  the  city  was  in  a  disordered  and  ineffective 
condition,  and  the  revenue  of  the  city  was  wholly  inadequate  to  its  wants. 
He  went  to  work  with  that  vigor  so  characteristic  of  his  nature,  and  soon 
many  of  the  streets  were  graded  and  paved,  wholesome  laws  were  enacted, 
and  the  treasury  was  replenished.  His  administration  was  popular  and 
successful. 

Dr.  Lane  has  also  served  three  terms  in  the  Missouri  legislature,  and  for 
several  years  filled  a  professor's  chair  in  the  medical  department  of 
Kemper's  College.  He  has  always  been  a  hard  worker. 

When  Mr.  Fillmore  was  called  to  the  presidential  chair,  he  appointed 
Dr.  Lane  governor  of  New  Mexico,  a  country  at  that  time  settled  in  a 
great  measure  by  lawless  spirits  and  unprincipled  adventurers.  Prompt 
and  decisive  action  and  clear  judgment  were  necessary  in  the  executive  to 
calm  the  dangerous  elements  of  which  it  was  composed,  and  bring  them, 
insensibly,  under  the  salutary  dominion  of  the  law.  The  governor  was 
equal  to  the  emergency  of  the  occasion,  and  soon  the  country  exhibited 
all  the  indications  of  administrative  healthfulness.  When  Mr.  Pierce  be- 
came president,  Dr.  Lane  resigned,  and  returned  to  St.  Louis. 

Dr.  Lane  is  well  and  favorably  known  throughout  Missouri,  and  has  a 
fame  beyond  its  limits.  He  is  in  the  evening  of  life,  but  all  the  essentials 
of  happiness  are  about  him — "health,  peace,  and  competence." 


JOHN    J.    ANDKRSON,    ESQ., 

Prtxii/ent  of  the  Bonk  of  St.  Louis 

(p.  573.) 

KN<JKAVKH    KXPKKSSLV    FOR  THIS    WOUK    FROM    A    PHOTOGRAPH   BY    BROWN. 


JOHN   J.    ANDERSON, 

PRESIDENT    OF   THE   BANK    OF   ST.  LOUIS. 

ON  the  other  side  of  the  Mississippi,  three  miles  south  of  St.  Louis, 
in  the  little  French  village  of  Cahokia,  January  19th,  1813,  John  J. 
Anderson,  the  well-known  banker  of  St.  Louis,  was  born. 

During  the  war  of  1812,  his  father,  Reuben  Anderson,  was  connected 
with  the  array,  and  emigrated  from  the  state  of  Delaware  when  some 
military  companies  were  ordered  West.  He  had  charge  of  the  military 
stores  when  the  troops  were  stationed  at  Bellefontaine,  and  in  the  change 
of  location  incident  to  military  life,  he  had  to  move  from  station  to 
station  until  his  connection  with  the  army  was  severed.  He  had  mar- 
ried Miss  Margaret  Byron,  daughter  of  Captain  Byron,  of  the  United 
States  army,  and  the  eldest  child  of  the  marriage  was  the  subject  of  this 
memoir. 

The  first  recollections  of  John  Anderson  are  associated  with  the  French 
hamlet  of  Cahokia,  surrounded  by  the  thick  forest  trees  in  which  it  then 
nestled,  and  which  concealed  it  almost  totally  from  view,  until  the  visitor 
entered  upon  the  open  space  which  surrounded  the  romantic  village.  He 
remained  there  until  Belleville  was  made  the  capital  of  the  county,  when 
his  father  removed  from  Cahokia  to  the  new  seat  of  government,  and  was 
soon  after  appointed  sheriff,  which  responsible  public  office  he  held  for 
eight  years — or  until  his  death,  which  took  place  in  1822.  By  his  death 
the  family  was  left  in  rather  straitened  circumstances,  and  young  John 
J.  Anderson,  who  was  then  attending  school,  soon  after  was  removed 
from  the  school-house,  at  the  early  age  of  thirteen.  It  was  necessary 
that  he  should  earn  his  own  livelihood,  and,  entering  thus  early  upon  the 
eddying  currents  of  life,  he  came  to  St.  Louis  July  2d,  1827. 

The  first  business  experience  of  John  J.  Anderson  was  in  the  store  of 
Richard  Ropier,  where  he  was  employed  first  as  a  boy,  but  being  of  an 
ambitious  and  diligent  nature,  as  he  advanced  in  years,  he  was  gradually 
promoted,  until  he  became  the  confidential  clerk  of  the  proprietor,  and 
in  1834  became  a  partner  in  the  concern,  the  firm  then  becoming  Ropier 
<fe  Anderson.  Two  years  afterward,  Mr.  Ropier  retired,  and  the  junior 
partner  purchased  the  whole  business,  which  he  conducted  upon  a  most 
extensive  scale,  and  for  many  years  in  the  most  profitable  manner. 

Commercial  life  is  ever  precarious,  and  subject  to  uncertainties  and 
fluctuations,  which  the  most  observing  and  cautious  cannot  at  all  times 
control.  In  the  year  1842,  the  pecuniary  pressure  was  so  great  that  many 
of  the  strongest  firms  in  the  country  were  forced  to  submit  to  the 
stringency  of  the  times,  and  could  not  meet  their  financial  contracts. 
John  J.  Anderson  was  of  this  number.  He  failed ;  but  all  of  his  debts, 
when  fortune  again  smiled  upon  him,  he  cancelled  in  an  honorable 
manner. 

With   all  his  worldly  wealth  swept  away,  and  having  debts   hanging 


576  JOHN    J.    ANDERSON. 


over  him,  and  feeling  keenly  the  torture  of  the  rankling  shafts  of  adver- 
sity, the  spirit  of  John  J.  Anderson  was  not  subdued,  but  was  nerved  to 
greater  efforts.  He  conducted  mining  and  merchandizing  for  a  short  time, 
and  was  then  appointed  clerk  of  the  City  Council  in  the  spring  of  1843. 

About  this  time,  Joseph  S.  Morrison,  of  Pennsylvania,  carne  to  St. 
Louis,  and,  becoming  acquainted  with  Mr.  Anderson,  had  so  much  confi- 
dence in  his  business  capacity,  that  he  offered  to  take  him  as  partner  in 
the  banking  business,  which  offer  being  accepted,  the  new  banking-house 
went  into  operation  under  the  title  of  John  J.  Anderson  &  Co.,  which  con- 
tinued until  1849,  when  Mr.  Morrison  retired. 

Every  one  who  has  been  a  resident  of  St.  Louis  for  a  little  more  than  a 
score  of  years,  remembers  the  great  fire  of  1849,  and  the  terrible  visita- 
tion of  the  Asiatic  cholera.  The  general  conflagration  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  city  burnt  the  banking-house  of  Mr.  Anderson  to  the  ground,  but 
quickly  he  commenced  building  the  structure  in  which  he  is  at  present 
located,  at  the  corner  of  Main  and  Olive  streets,  and  then  took  Reuben 
L.  Anderson,  his  brother,  into  partnership. 

Mr.  Anderson  has  taken  an  active  part  in  the  government  of  St.  Louis, 
and  was  a  member  of  the  Common  Council  for  four  years.  He  took  an 
active  part  in  all  measures  tending  to  the  improvement  of  the  harbor, 
and  ably  seconded  the  effective  efforts  of  the  Hon.  Luther  M.  Kennett, 
to  whom  St.  Louis  owes  so  much  for  having  removed  the  obstructions 
of  the  harbor.  He  was  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Ways  and 
Means,  when  one  million  of  dollars  was  appropriated  to  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  and  Pacific  Railroads — half  a  million  each.  He  was  two  years 
director  in  the  Pacific  Railroad,  was  a  director  in  the  Iron  Mountain  Rail- 
road, and  is  now  a  director  in  the  North  Missouri  Railroad.  He  procured 
for  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis  its  charter,  subscribed  liberally  to  its  stock,  and 
is  now  its  efficient  president. 

So  popular  was  John  J.  Anderson  from  his  official  service  in  the  City 
Council,  that  he  has  been  since  frequently  importuned  by  his  friends  to 
become  a  candidate  for  other  high  and  responsible  public  offices,  but  has 
always  declined.  The  new  marble  building  which  he  has  erected  is  a 
monument  of  his  liberal  enterprise.  The  marble  was  brought  from  the 
quarries  of  Vermont,  and  it  was  the  first  entire  marble  building  that  was 
erected  in  St.  Louis.  Its  cost  exceeded  $80,000.  He  is  one  of  the  ten 
gentlemen  that  have  undertaken  the  building  of  the  Southern  Hotel,  of 
this  city,  which  will  be  one  of  the  palatial  structures  of  the  Union — cost- 
ing $600,000. 

On  April  23d,  1835,  Mr.  Anderson  was  married  to  Miss  Theresa  Billon, 
daughter  of  Charles  L.  Billon,  of  Philadelphia.  He  has  worked  out  a 
destiny  of  which  any  one  might  be  proud ;  and  whatever  of  wealth,  pub- 
lic confidence,  and  social  position  he  has  achieved,  he  owes  to  the  self- 
reliant  and  energetic  elements  which  make  up  his  character. 


B .     W .     A  L  E  X  A  N  D  E  R,    ESQ. 


S77.) 


ENCRAVRD    FXPKF.SSI.Y   FOR    THIS    WOKK    FROM   A    PHOTO<;KAPH    «Y  1ROXRLL. 


B.  W.   ALEXANDER. 

B.  W.  ALEXANDER  was  born  in  Fleming  county,  Kentucky,  November  14, 
1809.  At  an  early  period,  when  Kentucky  was  almost  a  wild,  his  parents, 
William  and  Cynthia  Alexander,  emigrated  from  the  state  of  New  York, 
and  came  to  the  state  where  the  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born. 

When  at  the  early  age  of  twelve,  B.  W.  Alexander  left  his  father,  and 
he  was  bound  to  Thomas  Sommers,  a  bricklayer.  During  his  indenture 
he  took  every  opportunity  to  improve  his  mind,  attending  constantly  the 
evening  schools,  and  read  with  avidity  all  books  within  his  reach.  After 
putting  up  for  many  years  with  bad  treatment  from  his  master,  he  de- 
termined to  loose  himself  from  his  torturing  tyranny,  and  ran  away  in 
1828,  and  came  to  St.  Louis.  He  pursued  sedulously  his  trade  for  three 
years,  and  then,  having  accumulated  a  small  capital,  commenced  the  livery 
business,  which  he  conducted  with  great  success  until  1853,  when  he  sold 
out  his  well  known  concern,  and  opened  a  commission  house  under  the 
firm  of  Alexander  &  Lansing,  which  continued  four  years,  and  then  was 
succeeded  by  the  firm  of  B.  W.  Alexander  &  Co. 

There  are  some  men  whose  judgment  appears  almost  infallible,  and  from 
the  success  which  crowns  their  every  effort,  one  is  almost  induced  to  be- 
lieve that  there  is  some  truth  in  astrology,  and  that  to  be  born  under  a 
fortunate  star,  is  to  insure  success  in  every  undertaking.  Whatever  Mr. 
Alexander  has  touched  has  thriven,  and  the  diversified  pursuits  in  which 
he  has  been  engaged,  have  always  yielded  a  lucrative  profit.  The  esteem 
with  which  he  is  held  by  the  community  in  which  he  lives,  is  proved  by 
the  following  positions  of  trust  which  he  holds : — he  is  president  of  the 
Commercial  Insurance  Company,  director  of  the  St.  Louis  Bank,  director 
of  the  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  was  director  of  the  Boatmen's  Saving 
Institution,  and  also  one  of  its  corporation,  and  has  served  in  the  city 
council. 

Mr.  Alexander  has  been  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Miss  Thel- 
kcld,  of  Kentucky,  by  whom  he  had  one  child,  a  daughter,  who  is  married 
to  Mr.  A.  L.  Hardcastle,  a  well  known  citizen  of  St.  Louis,  and  of  the  firm 
of  Bryan  &  Hardcastle ;  the  second  wife  is  Miss  Octavia  E.  Orme,  daughter 
of  Archibald  E.  Orme  of  this  city. 

The  ambition  of  Mr.  Alexander  has  been  to  become  a  thorough  business 
man,  and  his  well  known  reputation  is  a  testimony  that  he  has  succeeded 
in  the  accomplishment  of  his  wishes. 


AARON  W.   FAGIN. 

AARON  W.  FAGIN  was  born  in  Clairmont  county,  Ohio,  March  11,  1812. 
His  parents,  Joseph  and  Rachel  Fagin,  were  respectable  and  worthy  people 
who  emigrated  early  in  life,  from  the  state  of  New  Jersey  and  came  to 
Ohio,  which  at  that  time,  was  attracting  a  numerous  population.  Joseph 
Fagin  commenced  trading  on  the  Ohio  River,  and  pursued  that  occupation 
with  much  profit  to  himself  and  family.  He  was  an  honorable  and  in- 
dustrious man,  and  carefully  instilled  into  his  children  the  same  principles 
of  honor  and  industry  which  formed  the  basis  of  his  own  conduct.  He 
died  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty  years. 

Aaron  W.  Fagin  was  the  fifth  child  of  the  six  which  are  now  living. 
He  was  early  taught  by  his  father  how  to  work  on  the  farm  ;  and  during 
the  busy  season  was  always  engaged  in  preparing,  working,  and  saving  the 
crops.  He  went  to  school  in  the  winter,  the  season  of  comparative  leisure, 
and  this  was  the  only  basis  of  his  education,  which  he  was  very  assiduous 
in  improving,  by  the  liberal  purchase  of  useful  books  and  studying  them 
during  the  moments  of  intermission  from  labor.  He  continued  his  con- 
nection with  the  farm  until  twenty  years  of  age,  and  was  then  married 
to  Miss  Sarah  Bradbury,  who  resided  in  the  same  county,  December  10, 
1830. 

After  his  marriage,  Mr.  Fagin,  not  being  partial  to  the  monotonous  life 
of  a  farmer,  where  small  profits  were  earned  by  much  labor,  quitted  that 
pursuit,  and  joined  himself  with  his  father  in  a  general  trading  business 
on  the  river. 

This  new  business  much  more  assimilated  with  his  natural  disposition, 
and  first  called  into  action  those  business  qualifications,  for  which  he  has 
since  been  so  remarkable.  His  attention,  judgment,  and  industry,  soon 
produced  their  usual  effects  upon  his  pursuits,  and  the  firm  of  Fagin  <fe 
Son^  gathered  large  profits  from  their  immense  business  ;  their  trade  ex- 
tending to  New  Orleans.  It  had  the  confidence  of  all,  and  well  deserved 
it ;  for,  when  the  pecuniary  crisis  of  1837,  caused  banks  and  bankers,  and 
individuals  engaged  in  all  classes  of  business  to  break  or  suspend,  the 
firm  of  Fagin  &  Sons  stood  unmoved  amid  the  general  ruin,  and  was  ready 
to  liquidate  any  demand  made  upon  them.  In  a  little  while  after  the 
panic,  Mr.  Fagin  dissolved  connection  with  his  father,  resolving  to  look 
about  him  for  a  little  season,  before  commencing  business  on  his  own  ac- 
count. In  1839  having  wound  up  his  affairs  he  again  recommenced  the 
trading  business,  in  which  he  continued  for  two  years ;  and  then  acting  on 
the  suggestions  and  advice  of  his  friend,  Mr.  George  Carlysle,  a  respect- 
able and  wealthy  citizen  of  Cincinnati,  who  stood  high  in  the  financial  cir- 
cles, he  came  to  St.  Louis  in  December,  184:2,  where  he  entered  upon  the 
commission  and  produce  business. 


AARON     -NV  .     F  A  G  I  N ,     K  S  Q  . 

(p.  581.) 

ENGRAVED   EXPRESSLY    FOB   THIS    WORK    FROM   A   PHOTOGRAPH   BY    BROWN. 


AAEON  W.    FAGIN.  583 


The  same  success  which  attended  Mr.  Fagin  in  other  localities,  attended 
him  in  St.  Louis.  He  did  an  extensive  commission  and  produce  business, 
and  was  the  first  person  in  St.  Louis  who  carried  on  business  of  any 
magnitude  with  the  Ohio  River.  He  frequently  sought  the  fertile  bottoms 
of  that  beautiful  river  for  produce,  often  exchanging  lead  for  corn,  wheat, 
rye,  <fec. 

He  continued  in  this  business  until  1849,  when  he  commenced  the  build- 
ing of  his  large  United  States  Mill,  the  fame  of  whose  flour  has  since  spread 
so  widely  over  the  Union.  In  the  milling  business  he  pursued  the  same 
course  which  had  insured  him  success  in  other  avocations.  He  entered 
upon  it  with  a  determination  to  succeed,  and,  strictly  attending  to  his 
business,  and  making  himself  familiar  with  all  of  its  details,  his  brands  of 
flour  soon  became  in  demand ;  and  his  well  known  brand,  in  itself  so 
characteristic  of  excellence,  "  a  hand  holding  the  four  aces"  stamped  on 
the  head  of  the  barrel,  is  known  throughout  the  Union. 

For  the  purpose  of  facilitating  trade,  Mr.  Fagin,  by  his  efforts,  first 
organized  the  Millers'  Exchange,  which,  in  its  incipiency,  was  viewed  by 
many  with  disfavor,  but  became  eventually  the  basis  of  the  present  Mer- 
chants' Exchange,  which  regulates  the  great  commercial  interest  of  St. 
Louis.  His  milling  business  annually  amounts  to  the  enormous  aggregate 
of  a  million  and  a  half  dollars. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Fagin,  without  taking  any  prominent  part,  has  always 
been  identified  with  the  old  Whig  party.  He  is  a  director  in  the  Union 
Insurance  Company,  and  is  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  leading  business 
men  in  the  great  Metropolis  of  the  West. 


JOSEPH    CHARLESS.  , 

[EXTRACT  FROM  "THE  GREAT  WEST."] 

"JOSEPH  CHARLESS  was  born  January  17th,  1£04,  at  Lexington,  Ken- 
tucky. He  is  of  a  most  reputable  family,  who  were  forced  to  flee  from 
Ireland,  and  arrived  in  this  country,  at  the  city  of  New  York,  in  1795. 
All  will  remember  the  sad  circumstances  connected  with  the  Irish  rebel- 
lion, at  the  head  of  which  figured  the  young  and  noble  Emmet,  who  fell 
a  sacrifice  for  loving  too  well  his  enslaved  country.  Joseph  Charless,  the 
father  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  was  actively  engaged  in  the  spirit 
of  resistance,  but  when  the  plan  for  resistance  was  discovered  in  its  incipi- 
ency,  he  precipitately  fled  to  avoid  the  halter  or  transportation  ;  and,  after 
a  sojourn  of  some  time  in  France,  sailed  for  the  United  States. 

"He  was  a  printer  by  trade,  and  established  himself  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia. He  worked  for  Matthew  Carey,  who,  at  that  time,  did  the  largest 
publishing  business  in  the  Quaker  City,  and  Mr.  Charless  often  boasted 
that  he  printed  the  first  quarto  edition  of  the  Bible  that  was  ever  issued 
in  the  United  States.  Marrying  Miss  Sarah  Gouch  in  1798,  in  two  years 
after  he  started  for  Kentucky,  and  settled  in  Lexington,  where  he  pur- 
sued his  business,  and  in  1807  came  to  St.  Louis.  He  can  boast  of  having 
started  the  first  paper  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis  and  west  of  the  Mississippi 
river,  having,  in  July,  1808,  started  the  Missouri  Gazette,  which  is  still  in 
existence,  and  is  known  now  as  the  Missouri  Republican,  which  has  the 
largest  circulation  of  any  journal  west  of  the  Alleghany  mountains.  He 
died  in  1834. 

"  The  first  years  of  the  young  Joseph  Charless  were  partially  employed 
in  receiving  the  limited  instructions  which  the  village  schoolmaster  at 
that  time  could  impart,  and  directly  he  had  attained  a  working  size,  he 
was  put  to  work  as  a  printer  in  his  father's  office,  and  while  in  that  em- 
ployment gleaned  a  great  deal  of  useful  knowledge  ;  he  then  commenced 
the  study  of  the  law,  and  read  for  some  time  in  the  office  of  Francis 
Spaulding,  and  afterward  went  to  complete  his  legal  education  at  the 
Transylvania  University,  Kentucky. 

"  In  1828,  Mr.  Charless  entered  into  partnership  with  his  father,  who 
had  sold  out  the  Missouri  Gazette,  and  gone  into  the  drug  business.  He 
still  continues  in  that  pursuit,  and  is  the  senior  partner  of  the  large  and 
respectable  firm  now  known  as  Charless,  Blow  &  Co. 

"In  politics,  Mr.  Charless  has  always  been  identified  with  the  Old  Whig 
party ;  but  has  never  been  a  politician,  nor  has  he  sought  the  loaves  and 
fishes  of  office.  His  sphere  in  life  has  been  in  a  business  circle,  and  he 
is  well  known  in  St.  Louis,  and  his  name  carries  with  it  respect  and 
influence.  He  has  been  in  St.  Louis  since  a  few  years  after  his  birth, 
and  has  witnessed  and  helped  to  make  the  great  change  from  poverty  to 


JOSEPH    CHAELESS,    ESQ. 

(P  585.) 

KNGKAVKI)  KXPRK8SLY  FOR   THIS  WOEK    FKOM  A  PHOTOGRAPH    BY  BROWN. 


JOSEPH    CHARLESS.  587 


wealth,  from  log-houses  to  palatial  residences,  which,  has  taken  place  in 
the  last  two-score  years  in  the  Mound  City. 

"  Mrs.  Sarah  Charless,  his  mother,  was  a  most  exemplary  Christian,  and 
was  the  first  to  set  in  agitation  an  organization  for  the  building  of  the  first 
Presbyterian  church  in  St.  Louis,  and  from  her  hospitable  doors  no  un- 
happy stranger  or  suffering  mendicant  was  ever  turned  away  unrelieved. 
She  died  loved  and  regretted ;  for  she  had  lived  in  the  service  of  her 
Creator,  and  in  loving  and  assisting  her  fellow-creatures. 

"  In  nearly  all  works  of  general  and  municipal  importance,  Mr.  Charless 
was  connected.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen, 
director  in  the  Public  Schools,  has  been  president  of  the  Bank  of  the 
State  of  Missouri,  and  is  now  president  of  the  Mechanics'  Bank  of  this 
city,  and  one  of  the  directors  of  the  Pacific  Railroad.  He  is  likewise  a 
Christian,  being  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  was  one  of  the 
most  active  to  carry  into  execution  the  building  of  the  City  University, 
which  is  an  ornament  of  the  city,  and  is  under  the  control  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church. 

"November  8th,  1831,  Mr.  Charless  married  Miss  Charlotte  Blow, 
daughter  of  Captain  Blow,  of  Virginia.  He  is  of  domestic  habits,  and 
his  sterling  business  qualities,  integrity,  social  disposition  and  enterprise, 
have  created  a  large  number  of  friends,  and  given  him  deserving  influence 
in  the  city  which  few  possess." 

Since  writing  the  above,  Mr.  Charless  was  shot  in  the  streets  of  St. 
Louis,  in  June,  1859,  by  a  man  named  Thornton,  for  having  a  year  pre- 
viously given  some  testimony  operating  against  him  at  a  public  trial.  The 
indignation  of  the  citizens  was  aroused,  and  the  murderer  narrowly  escaped 
being  hung  on  the  spot. 

25 


HON.    EDWAKD     BATES. 
K::O.M  A    PORTRAIT   LATELY  TAKEN   EXPRESSLY  FOR  THIS  WORK  BY  TUOXELL. — (SEE  PAUK  !>T.) 


APPENDIX. 


(1)  page  240.     There  are  a  dozen  instances  in  the  Archives  and  Livre- 
Terrein  where  the  founder  of  St.  Louis  has  signed  his  name  Pierre  Laclede 
Liguest.     Why  he  was  known  by  the  name  of  Laclede  by  the  old   in- 
habitants, is  very  easily  accounted  for.      In  the  first  stages    of   society 
there  is    no  caste,  no  ceremony;    every   person  is  on  the  most  familiar 
footing,  and  it  was  rare  that  any  one  was  called  but  by  one  name  ;    and 
that  is  as  seldom  the  patronymic.     The  Christian  or  middle  names  are 
generally  used.     The  inhabitants  called  the  founder  of  the  village  Laclede 
in  their  daily  familiar  intercourse,  but  when  it  was  signed  by  himself  in 
legal    instruments,   it    was   written  Laclede  Liguest,   or    Pierre  Laclede 
Liguest, 

(2)  page  242.     There  is  a  statement  made  by  Jean   Baptiste  Riviere 
dit  Baccane,  and   recorded  in  Hunt's  Minutes,  that   Laclede    remained 
some  time  in  Kaskaskia,  previous  to  his  visit  to  St.  Louis,  after  he   had 
sent  Auguste  Chouteau  to  take  possession  of  the  spot.    In  another  portion 
of  the  same  record  it  is  related  that  the  warehouse  of  the  company  was 
built  on  the  public  square — the  block  now  occupied  by  the  Merchants' 
Exchange,  between  Market  and  Walnut,  and  Main  and  Front  streets. 

(3)  page  250.     The  hunters  and  traders  of  those  days  were  a  graceless 
set  of  scamps,   take  them   as  a  whole.     They  were  a  jovial,  ignorant,  and 
immoral  set,  though  possessing  honesty,  courage,  and  self-reliance.     If  a 
true  history  could  be  made  of  some  of  their  adventures,  it  would   present 
hair-breadth  escapes,  feats  of  daring  intrepidity,  and  suffering  in   all  its 
phases,  more  plentifully  than  adorn  the  works  of  Spanish  romance. 

(4)  page  250.     Third  street  was  not  opened  until  after  1800;    for  at 
the  change  of  government  it  was  only  opened  south  of  Market  street. 

(5)  page  261.     "In  the  year  1774,  the  27th  of  December,  I  the  under- 
signed have  buried  the  body  of  Louis  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive,  Captain  of 
the  Swiss  Battalion  of  Louisiana,  in  the  cemetery  of  this  sacristy,  and  have 
administered  the  sacraments  of  the  church.  FRERE  VALENTIN." 

From  Register  of  Catholic  Church. 

(6)  page  265.     There  was  a  female  who  became  afterward  the  school- 
mistress of  the  village,  who  when  the  savage  made  the  attack,  put  on  a 
coat,  and  buttoning  it  well  up  to  her  chin,  and  armed  with  a  pistol  in  one 
hand  and  with  a  knife  in  the  other,  took  her  station  at  one  of  the  gates, 
encouraged  the  men  to  make  a  valiant  defence,  and  fearlessly  exposed  her 
person  to  the  fire  of  the  savages.     This  feat  of  courage  dubbed  her  as  a 
female  warrior,  and  ever  after  she  had  the  reputation  of  a  heroine. 

(7^  page  268. 

(8)  273.     It  was  during  the  administration  of  Perez,  in"  the  year  1792, 


590  APPENDIX. 


that  the  honey-bee,  that  ever  hums  upon  the  track  of  civilization,  appeared 
in  the  neighborhood  of  St.  Louis.  The  first  swarm  settled  in  the  garden 
of  Madame  Chouteau,  and  was  a  source  of  much  interest  to  the  inhab- 
itants. Nine  years  after  the  advent  of  the  honey-bee,  the  inhabitants  of 
St.  Louis  were  visited  by  that  dreadful  malady,  the  small-pox.  It  was 
brought  from  New-Orleans  by  some  of  the  voyayeurs,  and  proved  very 
fatal  to  the  inhabitants,  as  its  proper  treatment  was  little  understood.  The 
year  of  the  visitation  was  called  Fannee  de  la  picote  (the  year  of  the 
Small-pox). 

(9)  page  277.    There  were  three  men,  commandants  in  Upper  Louisiana 
at  the  time  of  the  transfer,  who  were  deputy  commandants,  Don  Francis 
Valle,  commandant  at  St.  Genevieve ;    I)on  Louis  Loriraer,  commandant 
at  Cape  Girardeau,  and  Don  Juan  Lavallee,  commandant  at  New  Mad- 
rid. 

The  governor-general  of  Louisiana  was  for  many  years  vested  with 
all  the  powers  of  intendant-general,  until  the  appointment  of  Morales. 

Delassns  in  1803  received  the  following  document  from  New  Orleans, 
which  rendered  it  illegal  for  him  to  grant  lands  after  its  reception.  His 
not  obeying  strictly  tlae  order,  opened  the  door  to  much  dispute  concern- 
ing land  claims : 

"  On  account  of  the  death  of  the  assessor  of  this  intendancy,  and  there 
not  being  in  the  Province  a  learned  man  who  can  supply  his  place,  I  have 
closed  the  tribunal  of  affairs  and  causes  relating  to  grants  and  composi- 
tions of  royal  lands,  and  the  81st  article  of  the  royal  ordinance  for  the 
intendants  of  New  Spain  provides  that,  for  conducting  that  tribunal  and 
substantiating  its  acts,  the  concurrence  of  that  officer  shall  be  necessary. 
I  make  this  communication  to  apprise  you  of  this  providence,  and  that 
you  may  not  receive  or  transmit  memorials  for  the  grant  of  lands,  until 
further  orders.  God  preserve  you,  <fec. 

"NEW  ORLEANS,  December  1st,  1802." 

(10)  page  278.     There  were  a  great  many  inhabitants,  it  is  true,  who 
looked  upon  the  transfer  even  at  first  with  disfavor,  but  it  was  confined 
principally  to  that  class  whose  possessions  were  meagre,  and  consequently 
who  had  but  little  to  hope  for  in  the  rise  of  property.      The  couriers  des 
bois  and  the  voyageurs,  doubtless  regretted  the  change,   as  it  gave  pos- 
session of  the  country  to  a  people  who  would  throw  some  trammels  over 
the  wild  liberties  of  their  vagabondish  life ;  and  as  we  have  in  another 
part  of  this  narrative  given  some  description  of  the  power  of   this  half- 
civilized  race,  we  will  give  some  description  of  the  latter. 

The  voyageurs  were  principally  French  Canadians,  brought  up  from 
their  infancy  to  follow  the  navigation  of  the  watercourses  for  a  livelihood. 
They  were  a  hardy,  reckless  race  of  men,  whose  ambition  consisted  in 
braving  danger,  and  performing  feats  of  personal  prowess.  Those  who 
plied  the  oar  on  the  eddying  currents  of  the  Father  of  Waters  had  in  a 
greater  degree  that  hardihood,  recklessness,  courage,  love  of  danger,  and 
strife,  which  characterized  these  demi-savages  of  the  Caucasian  race. 

It  was  the  custom,  for  one  who  had  been  victor  in  many  contests,  and 
was  considered  a  champion,  on  going  ashore  to  place  in  his  cap  a  scarlet 
feather,  or  a  piece  of  red  flannel  representing  a  kind  of  flag,  as  a  challenge 
to  any  one  who  dared  dispute  his  title  of  precedence  to  personal  strength 


APPENDIX.  591 


and  prowess.  The  banks  of  the  Mississippi  were  the  scene  of  many  a 
bloody  encounter  between  the  desperate  set  of  men  who  lived  upon  its 
waters. 

The  voyageurs  among  the  people  in  those  early  days,  were  looked  upon 
with  much  respect,  and  especially  by  the  young  girls  were  viewed  with 
special  favor ;  and  those  who,  still  young,  could  boast  of  making  the  most 
trips  to  New  Orleans,  and  victorious  in  the  most  encounters,  received  the 
most  significant  attention.  These  hardy  men  had  to  pass  a  term  of  pro- 
bation, before  they  received  the  appellation  of  voyageurs.  During  the 
first  year  of  their  plying  the  oar  they  were  in  derision  termed  mangeurs 
d  lard  (pork  caters),  and  were  the  subjects  of  many  jests  until  their 
term  of  probation  had  expired,  and  they  were  dubbed  with  the  degree 
of  voyageurs. 

These  voyageurs  were  the  precursors  of  what  were  afterward  known 
on  the  Ohio,  Mississippi  and  other  Western  rivers  as  flat-boatmen,  who 
had  all  their  characteristics.  These  flatboat-men  in  great  numbers,  some 
years  after  the  change  of  government,  plied  between  St.  Louis  and  New 
Orleans,  and  were  as  desperate  a  set  of  vagabonds  as  ever  bore  the  seal 
of  humanity.  Among  the  number  was  Mike  Fink,  who  has  been  made 
the  hero  of  a  popular  novel.  This  dare-devil  had  his  home  in  St.  Louis, 
and  there  are  still  living  some  few  old  citizens  who  have  seen  and  known 
him.  We  will  relate  one  of  his  atrocious  deeds,  which  was  ultimately  the 
cause  of  death. 

One  of  the  feats  of  Mike  Fink  was  to  shoot  an  apple  with  his  rifle  from 
the  hand  of  a  man  by  the  name  of  Carpenter,  which  he  had  done  over 
and  over  again  for  a  gallon  of  whiskey,  halving  it  on  all  occasions  with 
Carpenter,  who  jeoparded  his  life  so  fearfully  on  these  occasions. 

The  friendship  which  had  so  long  subsisted  between  these  brave  and 
lawless  men,  was  interrupted  by  a  quarrel,  and  before  the  rancor  had 
entirely  passed,  some  one  offered  Carpenter  a  gallon  of  whiskey  if  he 
would  let  some  one  shoot  an  apple  from  his  hand.  The  temptation  was 
irresistible  to  Carpenter,  and  he  was  unwilling  that  any  one  perform  the 
feat  but  Mike  Fink.  Mike  Fink  was  sent  for,  and,  arrived  at  the  spot, 
professed  his  willingness  to  do  what  he  had  so  frequently  done  before 
successfully.  Carpenter  took  his  station  at  eighty  yards,  and  as  Mike 
Fink  raised  his  rifle,  his  countenance  changed  to  a  demon's  hue,  black  and 
fearful.  In  an  instant  his  experienced  eye  ranged  the  lead  with  the 
sights,  and  then  when  every  muscle  was  still  and  unmoved  as  a  rock, 
the  rifle  was  fired,  and,  to  the  horror  of  all,  Carpenter  fell  dead  upon  the 
spot,  the  ball  having  perforated  his  forehead.  Mike  Fink  pretended  that 
the  rifle  hung  fire,  and  the  death  was  entirely  accidental.  However,  in 
one  of  his  drunken  orgies  he  confessed  to  have  done  it  designedly,  and 
being  threatened  with  arrest  went  far  up  the  Missouri  to  escape  from  the 
meshes  of  the  law.  Pirate  vengeance  is  more  searching  for  life  than 
public  justice,  and  one  of  the  boon  companions  of  Carpenter  followed  the 
murderer  to  his  wild  haunts  and  stabbed  him  to  the  heart. 

While  we  are  giving  a  sketch  of  some  of  the  desperate  men  who  lived 
in  early  times,  we  will  give  a  short  space  in  placing  upon  record,  as  illustra- 
tions of  an  epoch  that  was  remarkable  for  the  lowness  of  its  morality, 
some  of  the  achievements  of  Dick  or  Ned  Pierce.  This  man  was  power- 
fully built,  an  idle,  loafing  fellow,  but  brave  as  a  lion  and  the  bully  of  the 


592  APPENDIX. 


place.  He  had  numberless  contests  in  the  rough  and  tumble  manner,  and 
had  always  been  the  victor.  He  had  fought  with  the  strongest  and  most 
experienced  fighters  in  the  country,  and  their  sledge-like  blows  had  no 
more  effect  upon  the  head  of  Pierce  than  on  an  anvil.  Pierce  began  to 
have  great  faith  in  the  hardness  of  his  skull,  and  offered  on  one  occasion  to 
fight  a  ram  which  was  running  in  the  common,  and  was  remarkable  for  his 
viciousness.  The  fight  was  to  be  a  la  mode  the  ram  butting.  If  successful 
he  was  to  have  a  gallon  of  whiskey. 

The  announcement  created  quite  a  sensation  in  the  village,  and  numbers 
went  to  see  the  contest  between  Pierce  and  the  ram.  Pierce  teased  and 
aggravated  the  ram  to  the  fighting  point,  and  the  animal,  frenzied  by 
rage,  ran  backward,  according  to  his  fashion  of  combat,  and,  with  all 
his  speed,  his  tremendous  bound,  he  ran  toward  Pierce,  who,  upon  his 
hands  and  knees,  awaited  him,  and  as  the  animal,  with  a  terrible  dash, 
aimed  at  his  head,  Pierce  escaped  the  shock  by  lowering  his  head,  and 
raising  it  with  all  of  his  force,  in  time  to  strike  the  lower  jaw  of  the  ram, 
when  the  animal  fell  lifeless — his  neck  was  broken.  He  obtained  two  or 
three  victories  in  this  way,  and  was  at  last  killed  by  a  large  ram' owned 
by  Colonel  Chouteau.  When  the  ram  made  a  dash  at  him,  Pierce,  ac- 
cording to  custom,  suddenly  attempted  to  lower  his  head,  but  a  stubble 
sticking  in  his  nostril,  caused  him,  from  the  pain,  quickly  to  elevate  it, 
and  he  received  upon  his  forehead  the  full  blow  of  the  ram,  and  his 
brains  were  spattered  upon  the  soil. 

(10)  page  '279.  Some  of  the  old  inhabitants  contend  that  the  origin  of  the 
name  was  in  this  wise.  Frequently  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  would  go 
to  Carondelet  upon  excursions  of  pleasure,  and  it  was  remarked  that  they 
always  returned  with  an  empty  pocket — their  money  being  generally  lost 
in  gaming,  to  which  some  of  the  inhabitants  were  addicted.  Hence  all 
returning  from  the  village  with  an  empty  pocket  (vide  poche],  it  became 
afterward  known  by  that  name. 

(12)  page  291.  General  William  Harrison  was  governor  at  that  time 
of  the  Territory  of  Indiana,  and  visited  St.  Louis  so  as  to  see  the  condi- 
tion of  the  District  of  Louisiana,  and  perform  properly  the  responsible 
duties  vesting  in  him.  After  examining  into  the  condition  of  things,  he 
returned  to  Indiana,  and,  in  connection  with  the  judges  of  that  territory, 
passed  some  laws  relative  to  the  government  of  the  new  district.  They 
were  passed  October  1st,  1804,  and  the  acts  were  as  follows:  concerning 
crimes  and  punishments,  justices'  courts,  slaves,  taxes,  militia,  recorders 
office,  attorneys,  constables,  boatmen,  defalcation,  court  rules,  establish- 
ment of  probate  court,  courts  of  judicature,  oath  of  office,  appointment 
of  sheriffs,  and  regulation  of  marriages.  The  last  act  is  dated  April  24th, 
1805,  which  was  after  the  passage  of  the  act  of  Congress  changing  the 
name  of  the  District  of  Louisiana  to  that  of  "The  Territory  of  Louisiana," 
but  before  the  news  of  the  act  by  the  general  government  had  reached 
Indiana. 

General  Wilkinson  was  appointed  governor  at  the  passage  of  the  act, 
March  3d,  1805,  but  was  ordered  in  1806  by  the  general  government  to 
watch  and  report  the  suspected  movements  of  Burr,  and  Mcrrywether 
Lewis  was  appointed  in  his  place  ;  who  remained  governor  till  1809,  when, 
committing  suicide,  Benjamin  Howard  was  appointed,  and  served  till  the 
appointment  of  General  William  Chirk  in  1813;  and  General  Clark  re- 


APPENDIX.  593 

inained  governor  until  Missouri  became  a  state,  in  1820,  when  Alexander 
McNair  was  elected  to  the  executive  office.  Mrs.  Alexander  McNair  is 
still  living,  at  a  very  advanced  age,  in  St.  Louis. 

(13)  page  292.     The  lirst  postmaster  in  St.  Louis  was  Rufus  Easton, 
who  came  at  the  close  of  1804  to  St.  Louis,  and  as  a  member  of  the 
bar,  directed  his  energies  to  the  investigation  of  real  estate  titles,  and 
became  a   high   authority  in   that  channel  of  legal  business.     He  was  a 
gentleman  of  known  integrity,  and  had  the  confidence  of  the  community. 

(14)  page  308.    Colonel  Leistendorfer  settled  in  Carondelet,  and  raised 
a  large  family.     Some  of  his  sons  became  extensive  traders,  and  were  most 
respectable  citizens.     The  general  government  recognized  the  services  of 
Colonel  Leistendorfer  in  Africa,  by  ordering  him  a  pension. 

There  is  an  anecdote  told  of  the  Colonel's  expertness  in  sleight-of-hand 
necromancy,  which  would  do  honor  to  a  professed  Indian  juggler,  and,  as 
it  is  somewhat  illustrative  of  the  history  of  the  city,  we  will  give  it,  as 
it  smacks  of  interest  and  amusement. 

One  evening,  Colonel  Leistendorfer  was  performing  in  the  house  of  old 
Joseph  Robidoux,  an  Indian  trader,  living  at  the  corner  of  Main  and  Elm 
streets,  and  a  large  attendance  of  the  villagers  were  present.  He  an- 
nounced to  the  company  that  he  would  raise  a  chicken  from  an  egg,  and, 
after  it  was  full-grown,  would  cook  and  serve  it  up  to  the  company.  The 
audience  were  highly  pleased  with  the  announcement  of  this  favorite 
trick,  and  watched  the  proceedings  with  much  interest.  The  egg  was 
first  shown  to  the  company,  placed  in  a  little  box  that  was  emptied,  then 
the  box  was  closed,  and  straightway  was  heard  the  complaining  notes  of  a 
young  chicken ;  and,  on  opening  the  box,  lo !  a  young  chicken  was  found. 
It  was  transferred  to  another  box,"  closed  up,  and  immediately  reopened, 
and  the  chicken  had  become  enough  to  make  a  good  broil  for  breakfast. 
It  underwent  quite  a  number  of  changes,  growing  larger  each  time,  until 
it  had  reached  the  size  of  a  full-grown  chicken.  Then  the  head  was  cut 
off  before  the  company,  and  the  body,  head  and  all  placed  on  a  dish,  and, 
after  being  transferred  to  a  box,  from  which  it  was  taken  a  few  minutes 
afterward,  cooked  to  a  beautiful  brown,  and  swimming  in  gravy,  from 
which  a  most  inviting  flavor  emanated.  The  magician  invited  one  of  the 
company  to  carve  the  chicken,  as  he  intended  that  the  audience  should 
partake  of  the  fowl,  aud  judge  of  the  merits  of  the  cooking.  Judge  Wm. 
C.  Carr,  then  a  young  attorney,  took  the  knife  and  fork  that  was  handed 
to  him,  and  was  on  the  point  of  using  the  latter  in  transfixing  the  breast 
of  the  chicken,  when,  to  the  utter  astonishment  of  all,  there  was  a  con- 
vulsive movement  in  the  dish,  and  a  live  chicken  flew  from  it  on  the  sort 
of  a  stage  that  had  been  erected,  causing  the  gravy  to  splash  considerably 
over  the  young  lawyer. 

(14)  page  309.     Before  the  establishment  of  a  bank  in  St.  Louis,  there- 
was  but  little  money  afloat,  the  business  being  carried  on  through  trade 
in  lead,  and  all  kinds  of  peltry  were  given  in  exchange  for  groceries  and 
dry  goods. 

(15)  page  340.     The  first  bricklayer  who  lived  and  followed  his  voca- 
tion in  St.  Louis  was  named  John  Lee.     Mr.  Pierre  Berthold,  Sen.,  saw 
him  in  Marietta,  in  Ohio,  and  persuaded  him  to  accompany  him  to  St. 
Louis,  and  carry  on  his  business.    Lee  consented ;  and  the  first  brick  house 
that  was  erected  was  of  the  brick  he  manufactured.     The  house  was  built 


594  APPENDIX. 


on  Main  street,  between  Chesnut  and  Market  streets,  and  was  built  for 
Berthold  &  Chouteau.  There  have  been  many  disputes  concerning  who 
owned  the  first  brick  house  in  St.  Louis;  and,  as  we  have  given  much 
attention  to  the  matter,  we  are  prepared  to  give  authentic  information. 
Christian  Wilt  owned  the  second,  Judge  Carr  the  third,  Manuel  Lisa  the 
fourth,  and  John  Smith  the  fifth. 

Mr.  John  Lee,  the  first  bricklayer  who  came  to  St.  Louis,  for  some 
years  had  a  monopoly  in  his  business.  He  raised  a  large  family,  and 
some  of  his  grandchildren  have  intermarried  with  some  of  the  princely 
merchants  of  St.  Louis. 


The  following  is  from  the  Port  Folio : 

"THE  MISSOURI  TRAPPER. 

"The  varied  fortunes  of  those  who  bear  the  above  cognomen,  what- 
ever may  be  their  virtues  or  demerits,  must,  upon  the  common  principles 
of  humanity,  claim  our  sympathy,  while  they  cannot  fail  to  awaken  admi- 
ration. The  hardships  voluntarily  encountered,  and  the  privations  man- 
fully endured,  by  this  hardy  race,  in  the  exercise  of  their  perilous  calling, 
present  abundant  proofs  of  those  peculiar  characteristics  which  distin- 
guish the  American  woodsmen.  The  trackless  deserts  of  Missouri,  the 
fastnesses  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  have  all  been  explored  by  these  bold 
adventurers ;  and  the  great  and  increasing  importance  of  the  Missouri 
fur-trade  is  an  evidence  as  well  of  their  numbers  as  of  their  skill  and 
perseverance. 

"The  ingenious  author  of  Robinson  Crusoe  has  shown,  by  an  agreeable 
fiction,  that  man  may  exist  in  a  desert,  without  the  society  or  aid  of  his 
fellow-creatures,  and  unassisted  by  those  contrivances  of  art  which  are 
deemed  indispensable  in  a  state  of  civilized  society ;  that  nature  will 
supply  all  his  absolute  wants,  and  that  his  own  ingenuity  will  suggest 
ways  and  means  of  living,  which  are  not  dreamt  of  in  the  philosophy 
of  polished  circles.  That  which  the  novelist  deemed  barely  possible,  and 
which  a  large  portion  of  his  readers  have  always  considered  as  marvel- 
lously incredible,  is  now  daily  and  hourly  reduced  to  practice  in  our 
western  forests.  Here  may  be  found  many  a  Crusoe  clad  in  skins,  and 
contentedly  keeping  'bachelor's  hall,'  in  the  wild  woods,  unblessed  by 
the  smiles  of  beauty,  uncheered  by  the  voice  of  humanity — without  even 
a  '  man  Friday'  for  company,  and  ignorant  of  the  busy  world,  its  cares,  its 
pleasures,  or  its  comforts. 

"But  the  solitary  wight  whose  cabin  is  pitched  in  the  deepest  recess  of 
the  forest,  whose  gun  supplies  his  table,  and  whose  dog  is  his  only  com- 
rade, enjoys  ease  and  comfort,  in  comparison  with  the  trapper,  whose 
erratic  steps  lead  him  continually  into  new  toils  and  dangers.  Being 
compelled  to  procure  his  subsistence  by  very  precarious  means  from  day 
to  day,  in  those  immense  regions  of  wilderness  into  which  he  fearlessly 
penetrates,  he  is  sometimes  known  to  live  for  a  considerable  period 
upon  food  over  which  the  hungry  wolf  would  pause  for  a  polite  interval 
before  carving.  The  ordinary  food  of  a  trapper  is  corn  and  buffalo 
tallow,  and,  although  his  rifle  frequently  procures  more  dainty  viands,  he  is 


APPENDIX.  595 

often,  on    the    other  hand,  forced    to  devour  his  peltry,  and  gnaw  his 
moccasins. 

"  An  old  man  arrived  at  Fort  Atkinson  in  June  last,  from  the  Upper 
Missouri,  who  was  instantly  recognized  by  some  of  the  officers  of  the 
garrison  as  an  individual  supposed  some  time  since  to  have  been  de- 
voured by  a  white  bear,  but  more  recently  reported  to  have  been  slain  by 
the  Arickara  Indians.  His  name  is  Hugh  Glass.  Whether  old  Ireland 
or  Scotch-Irish  Pennsylvania  claims  the  honor  of  his  nativity.  1  have  not 
ascertained  with  precision,  nor  do  I  suppose  that  the  humble  fortunes 
of  the  hardy  adventurer  will  excite  a  rivalry  on  the  subject  similar  to  that 
respecting  the  birthplace  of  Homer.  The  following  is  his  own  account 
of  himself  for  the  last  ten  months  of  his  perilous  career : 

"  He  was  employed  by  Major  Henry  as  a  trapper%  and  was  attached  to 
his  command  before  the  Arickara  towns.  After  the  flight  of  these  In- 
dians, the  major  and  party  set  out  for  the  Yellowstone  River.  Their 
route  lay  up*  the  Grand  River,  and  through  a  prairie  country,  occasionally 
interspersed  with  thickets  of  brushwood,  dwarf-plum  trees,  and  other 
shrubs,  indigenous  to  a  sandy  soil.  As  these  adventurers  usually  draw 
their  food,  as  well  as  their  raiment,  from  Nature's  spacious  warehouse, 
it  is  usual  for  one  or  two  hunters  to  precede  the  party  in  search  of  game, 
that  the  whole  may  not  be  forced,  at  night,  to  lie  down  supperless.  The 
rifle  of  Hugh  Glass  being  esteemed  as  among  the  most  unerring,  he  was 
on  one  occasion  detached  for  supplies.  He  was  a  short  distance  in  ad- 
vance of  the  party,  and  forcing  his  way  through  a  thicket,  when  a  white 
bear  that  had  imbedded  herself  in  the  sand,  arose  within  three  yards  of 
him,  and  before  he  could  '  set  his  triggers,'  or  turn  to  retreat,  he  was 
seized  by  the  throat,  and  raised  from  the  ground.  Casting  him  again 
upon  the  earth,  his  grim  adversary  tore  out  a  mouthful  of  the  cannibal 
food  which  had  excited  her  appetite,  and  retired  to  submit  the  sample  to 
her  yearling  cubs,  which  were  near  at  hand.  The  sufferer  now  made  an 
effort  to  escape,  but  the  bear  immediately  returned  with  a  reinforcement, 
and  seized  him  again  at  the  shoulder;  she  also  lacerated  his  left  arm 
very  much,  and  inflicted  a  severe  wound  on  the  back  of  his  head.  In 
this  second  attack  the  cubs  were  prevented  from  participating  by  one  of 
the  party,  who  had  rushed  forward  to  the  relief  of  his  comrade.  One 
of  the  cubs  however,  forced  the  new  comer  to  retreat  into  the  river, 
where,  standing  to  the  middle  in  water,  he  gave  his  foe  a  mortal  shot,  or, 
to  use  his  own  language — '  I  burst  the  varment.'  Meantime,  the  main 
body  of  trappers  having  arrived,  advanced  to  the  relief  of  Glass,  and 
delivered  seven  or  eight  shots  with  such  unerring  aim  as  to  terminate 
hostilities,  by  dispatching  the  bear  as  she  stood  over  her  victim. 

"Glass  was  thus  snatched  from  the  grasp  of  the  ferocious  animal,  yet 
his  condition  was  far  from  being  enviable.  lie  had  received  several  dan- 
gerous wounds,  his  whole  body  was  bruised  and  mangled,  and  he  lay 
weltering  in  his  blood,  in  exquisite  torment.  To  procure  surgical  aid, 
now  so  desirable,  was  impossible;  and  to  remove  the  sufferer  was  equally 
so.  The  safety  of  the  whole  party — being  now  in  the  country  of  hostile 
Indians — depended  on  the  celerity  of  their  movements.  To  remove  the 
lacerated  and  helpless  Glass,  seemed  certain  death  to  him ;  and  to  the 
rest  of  the  party  such  a  measure  would  have  been  fraught  with  danger. 
Under  these  circumstances,  Major  Henry,  by  offering  an  extravagant  re- 


596  APPENDIX. 

ward,  induced  two  of  his  party  to  remain  with  the  wounded  man  until  he 
should  expire,  or  until  he  could  so  far  recover  as  to  bear  removal  to 
some  of  the  trading  establishments  in  that  country.  They  remained  with 
their  patient  five  days,  and  supposing  his  recovery  no  longer  possible, 
they  cruelly  abandoned  him,  taking  with  them  his  rifle,  shot-pouch,  &c., 
and  leaving  him  no  means  of  either  making  fire  or  procuring  food.  These 
unprincipled  wretches  proceeded  on  the  trail  of  their  employer,  and 
when  they  overtook  him,  reported  that  Glass  had  died  of  his  wounds,  and 
that  they  had  interred  him  in  the  best  manner  possible.  They  produced 
his  effects  in  confirmation  of  their  assertions,  and  readily  obtained  credence. 

"  Meanwhile,  poor  Glass,  retaining  a  slight  hold  upon  life,  when  he 
found  himself  abandoned,  crawled  with  great  difficulty  to  a  spring  which 
was  within  a  few  yards,  where  he  lay  ten  days. 

"During  this  period  he  subsisted  upon  cherries  that  hung  over  the 
spring,  and  grains  desbceufs,  or  buffalo  berries,  that  were  within  his  reach. 
Acquiring,  by  slow  degrees,  a  little  strength,  he  now  set  off  for  Fort 
Kiawa,  a  trading  establishment  on  the  Missouri  River,  about  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  distant.  It  required  no  ordinary  portion  of  fortitude 
to  crawl  to  the  end  of  such  a  journey,  through  a  hostile  country,  with- 
out fire-arms,  with  scarcely  strength  to  drag  one  limb  after  another,  and 
with  almost  no  other  subsistence  than  wild  berries.  He  had,  however, 
the  good  fortune  one  day  to  be  '  in  at  the  death  of  a  buffalo  calf  which 
was  overtaken  and  slain  by  a  pack  of  wolves.  He  permitted  the  assail- 
ants to  carry  on  the  war  until  no  signs  of  life  remained  in  their  victim, 
and  then  interfered  and  took  possession  of  the  'fatted  calf]  but  as  he  had 
no  means  of  striking  fire,  we  may  infer  that  he  did  not  make  a  very 
prodigal  use  of  the  veal  thus  obtained.  With  indefatigable  industry,  he 
continued  to  crawl  until  he  reached  Fort  Kiawa. 

"Before  his  wounds  were  entirely  healed,  the  chivalry  of  Glass  was 
awakened,  and  he  joined  a  party  of  five  engages,  who  were  bound,  in  a 
pirogue,  to  Yellowstone  River.  The  primary  object  of  this  voyage  was 
declared  to  be  the  recovery  of  his  arms,  and  vengeance  on  the  recreant 
who  had  robbed  and  abandoned  him  in  the  hour  of  his  peril. 

"When  the  party  had  ascended  to  within  a  few  miles  of  the  old  Man- 
dan  village,  our  trapper  of  hair-breadth  'scapes,  landed,  for  the  purpose  of 
proceeding  to  Tilton's  Fort  at  that  place,  by  a  nearer  route  than  that  of 
the  river. 

"On  the  following  day,  all  the  companions  of  his  voyage  were  massa- 
cred by  the  Arickara  Indians.  Approaching  the  fort  with  some  caution, 
he  observed  two  squaws  whom  he  recognized  as  Arickaras,  and  who,  dis- 
covering him  at  the  same  time,  turned  and  fled.  This  was  the  first  intel- 
ligence which  he  obtained  of  the  fact  that  the  Arickaras  had  taken  post 
at  the  Mandan  village,  and  he  at  once  perceived  the  danger  of  his  situa- 
tion. The  squaws  were  not  long  in  rallying  the  warriors  of  the  tribe,  who 
immediately  commenced  the  pursuit.  Suffering  still  under  the  severity 
of  his  recent  wounds,  the  poor  fugitive  made  a  feeble  essay  at  flight,  and 
his  enemies  were  within  rifle-shot  of  him,  when  two  Mandan  mounted 
warriors  rushed  forward,  and  seized  him.  Instead  of  dispatching  their 
prisoner,  as  he  had  anticipated,  they  mounted  him  on  a  fleet  horse,  which 
they  had  brought  out  for  that  purpose,  and  carried  him  into  Tilton's  Fort 
without  injury. 


APPENDIX.  597 


"The  same  evening  Glass  crept  out  of  the  fort,  and  after  travelling 
thirty-eight  days  alone,  and  through  the  country  of  hostile  Indians,  he  ar- 
rived at  Henry's  establishment. 

"  Finding  that  the  trappers  he  was  in  pursuit  of  had  gone  to  Fort  At- 
kinson, Glass  readily  consented  to  be  the  bearer  of  letters  for  that  post, 
and  accordingly  left  Henry's  Fort,  on  the  Big  Horn  River,  on  the  28th  of 
February,  1824.  Four  men  accompanied  him.  They  travelled  across  to 
Powder  River,  which  empties  itself  into  the  Yellowstone,  below  the  mouth 
of  the  Horn.  They  pursued  their  route  up  the  Powder  to  its  source,  and 
thence  across  to  the  Platte.  Here  they  constructed  skin-boats,  and  de- 
scended in  them  to  the  lower  end  of  Les  Cotes  Noirs  (the  Black  Hills), 
where  they  discovered  thirty-eight  lodges  of  Arickara  Indians.  This  was 
the  encampment  of  Grey  Eyes'*  band.  That  chief  had  been  killed  in 
the  attack  of  the  American  troops  upon  his  village,  and  the  tribe  was 
now  under  the  command  of  Langue  de  Riche  (Elk's  Tongue).  This  war- 
rior came  down  and  invited  our  little  party  ashore,  and,  by  many  profes- 
sions of  friendship,  induced  them  to  believe  him  to  be  sincere. 

"  Glass  had  once  resided  with  this  tonguey  old  politician,  during  a  long 
winter,  had  joined  him  in  the  chase,  and  smoked  his  pipe,  and  cracked 
many  a  bottle  by  the  genial  fire  of  his  wigwam  ;  and  when  he  landed, 
the  savage  chief  embraced  him  with  the  cordiality  of  an  old  friend.  The 
whites  were  thrown  off  their  guard,  and  accepted  an  invitation  to  smoke 
in  the  Indian's  lodge.  While  engaged  in  passing  the  hospitable  pipe,  a 
small  child  was  heard  to  utter  a  suspicious  scream.  Glass  looked  toward 
the  door  of  the  lodge,  and  beheld  the  squaws  of  the  tribe  bearing  oft'  the 
arms  and  other  effects  of  his  party.  This  was  the  signal  for  a  general 
movement ;  the  guests  sprang  from  their  seats,  and  fled  with  precipita- 
tion, pursued  by  their  treacherous  entertainers — the  whites  ran  for  life, 
the  red  warriors  for  blood. 

"Two  of  the  party  were  overtaken  and  put  to  death,  one  of  them  with- 
in a  few  yards  of  Glass,  who  had  gained  a  point  of  rocks  unperceived, 
and  lay  concealed  from  the  view  of  his  pursuers.  Versed  in  all  the  arts 
of  border  warfare,  our  adventurer  was  enabled  to  practise  them  in  the 
present  crisis  with  such  success  as  to  baffle  his  bloodthirsty  enemies ; 
and  he  remained  in  his  lurking-place  until  the  search  was  abandoned  in 
despair.  Breathing  once  more  a  free  air,  he  sallied  forth  under  cover  of 
the  night,  and  resumed  his  line  of  march  toward  Fort  Kiawa.  The  buf- 
falo calves,  at  that  season  of  the  year,  were  generally  but  a  few  days  old ; 
and  as  the  country  through  which  he  travelled  was  abundantly  stocked 
with  them,  he  found  it  no  difficult  task  to  overtake  one  as  often  as  his 
appetite  admonished  him  to  task  his  speed  for  that  purpose.  'Although,' 
said  he,  '  I  had  lost  my  rifle  and  all  my  plunder,  I  felt  quite  rich  when  I 
found  my  knife,  flint  and  steel  in  my  shot-pouch.  These  little  fixens,'  he 
added,  '  make  a  man  feel  right  peart,  when  he  is  three  or  four  hundred 
miles  from  any  body  or  any  place — all  alone  among  the  painters  and  wild 
varments.'' 

"A  journey  of  fifteen  days  brought  him  to  Fort  Kiawa.  Thence  he 
descended  to  Fort  Atkinson,  at  the  Council  Bluffs,  where  he  found  his 
old  traitorous  acquaintance  in  the  garb  of  a  private  soldier.  This 
shielded  the  delinquent  from  chastisement.  The  commanding  officer  at 
the  post  ordered  his  rifle  to  be  restored ;  and  the  veteran  trapper  was 


598  APPENDIX. 


furnished  with  such  other  appliances,  or  fixens,  as  he  would  term  them,  as 
put  him  in  a  plight  again  to  take  the  field.  This  appeased  the  wrath  of 
Hugh  Glass,  whom  my  informant  left  astonishing,  with  his  wonderful  nar- 
ration, the  gaping  rank  and  file  of  the  garrison." 

SUCCINCT  HISTORY  OF  THE  VARIOUS   RELIGIOUS    SECTS 

IN  ST.  LOUIS. 

THIS  record  of  the  various  religious  denominations  in  St.  Louis  can  be 
depended  upon  as  correct,  as  the  information  has  been  attained  from  the 
most  authentic  sources.  The  facts  thus  carefully  garnered  must  be  of 
much  interest  to  a  large  portion  of  the  community,  and  will  furnish  an 
era  from  which  the  various  sects  date  their  existence.  Beyond  giving 
the  time  of  their  organization,  and  a  few  other  incidental  facts,  this  his- 
tory does  not  go,  as  a  fuller  description  of  them  belongs  to  a  book  treat- 
ing exclusively  of  them. 

CATHOLIC    CHURCHES. 

St.  Louis  was  first  settled  by  the  Catholics,  and  the  first  record  there  is 
of  a  Catholic  missionary  was  in  1766,  two  years  after  the  founding  of  St. 
Louis.  Father  Meurin,  at  that  time  in  a  tent,  performed  the  rites  of  bap- 
tism. When  St.  Louis  was  a  little  trading  post,  he  used  frequently  to 
come  from  Kaskaskia,  where  he  resided,  to  look  after  the  spiritual  welfare 
of  the  inhabitants.  He  died  in  1770.  After  his  death,  Father  Gibault 
succeeded  him,  and  performed  mass  in  the  little  log  church  which  was 
erected  that  year.  The  founder  of  St.  Louis  laid  off  the  square  where 
the  cathedral  now  stands,  for  a  Catholic  church,  and  on  it  was  erected 
the  first  log  church.  On  this  square  was  buried  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive, 
the  French  commandant,  and  Fernando  de  Leyba,  one  of  the  Spanish 
commandants,  and  also  his  wife;  and  here  likewise  was  interred  one  of  the 
children  of  Cruzat,  another  of  the  Spanish  governors. 

The  first  prayer  and  first  blessing  were  breathed  by  Catholic  lips.  Their 
hands  reared  the  first  altar;  and  they  first  sang  the  Exaudiat  and  De 
Profundis  with  jubilant  voices,  where  now  our  great  Metropolis  stands. 
They  first  stood  upon  the  heathen  ground,  and  consecrated  it  to  religion. 
There  are  seventeen  churches. 

UNITARIAN    CHURCH. 

The  Unitarians  organized  in  1834,  and  service  was  held  in  the  third  story 
of  a  house  situated  on  the  corner  of  Locust  and  Main  streets,  where  the 
Masons  held  their  meetings.  In  1837,  the  first  church  was  built  on  the 
corner  of  Fourth  and  Pine  streets,  which  was  pulled  down  in  1850.  The 
Rev.  William  G.  Elliot  was  the  first  officiating  clergyman.  The  sect  have 
but  one  church,  which  supports  the  "  City  Mission,"  an  eleemosynary  in- 
stitution. 

PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH. 

In  1816,  the  Rev.  Salmon  Giddings  was  employed  by  the  Connecticut 
Missionary  Society  to  visit  the  state  of  Missouri,  to  effect  an  organization 


APPENDIX.  599 


of  the  members  of  that  sect  who  were  in  that  state,  and  he  arrived  in 
St.  Louis  April  6th  of  that  year.  It  was  not  until  the  following  year 
that  he  attempted  any  thing  like  an  organization  of  the  sect  in  St.  Louis, 
having  gone  first  to  another  part  of  the  then  territory.  It  appears, 
however,  that  Mr.  Giddings,  in  the  summer  of  1816,  administered  the 
Eucharist  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Stephen  Ilempstead,  at  which  there  were 
three  or  four  communicants — Mr.  Ilempstead,  his  wife,  and  Mrs.  Manuel 
Lisa,  his  daughter;  and  prohably  at  the  same  time  Mr.  Thomas  Osborne; 
concerning  the  latter  there  is  some  confliction  of  testimony.  The  church 
was  completely  organized  November  17th,  1817,  and  the  following  per- 
sons united  in  a  covenant  to  that  effect: — Thomas  Osborne,  Susanna  Os- 
borne, Stephen  Hempstead,  Mary  Hempstead,  Britannia  Brown,  Chloe 
Reed,  Mary  Keeny,  and  Magdalen  Scott. 

In  the  same  building  where  the  circuit  court  was  then  held  Mr.  Gid- 
dings rented  a  small  room,  where  he  taught  school  and  preached.  It  was 
in  Market  street,  between  Fourth  and  Fifth,  and  on  that  spot  now  stands 
Wyman's  Hall.  Service  was  held  there  until  the  first  Presbyterian 
church  was  built  in  1825,  on  Fourth  street,  between  St.  Charles  and 
Washington  avenues.  When  Mr.  Giddings  died,  he  was  buried  beneath 
the  pulpit  of  the  church. 

At  the  conference  in  Philadelphia  in  1837,  there  was  some  dispute  on 
doctrinal  observances,  and  from  that  grew  the  distinct  branches  of  the 
Old  and  New  School  Presbyterians,  and  subsequently  other  subdivisions. 

REFORMED  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

Organized  April  2d,  1846.  Church  built  in  1852,  the  Rev.  Andrew  C. 
Todd  being  then  installed  as  minister.  Previous  to  the  building  of  the 
church,  service  was  held  on  the  corner  of  Third  street  and  Washington 
avenue.  One  church  in  the  city. 

UNITED    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH. 

Organized  in  1840,  under  the  title  of  the  "Associate  Reformed  Pres- 
byterian Church."  The  building  was  commenced  in  1841,  and  service 
was  held  in  the  basement  during  its  erection.  The  Rev.  H.  H.  Johnson 
was  the  first  installed  minister.  One  church. 

FIRST    CUMBERLAND    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH. 

Organized  by  the  Rev.  J.  G.  White,  April  29th,  1849.  The  church 
edifice  was  erected  in  1852.  There  is  a  German  church  of  the  same 
persuasion  about  being  erected,  which  was  organized  December  13th, 
1857.  Two  churches. 

CONGREGATIONAL    CHURCH. 

Organized  in  March,  1852,  which  was  effected  chiefly  through  the 
efforts  of  Rev.  T.  M.  Post.  The  first  sermon  after  organization  was 
preached  in  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church,  between  Washington  and 
Franklin  avenues,  on  Sixth  street,  and  service  was  performed  there  until 
December,  1855,  when  it  was  transferred  to  the  chapel  which  the  sect 
erected  near  the  spot  where  their  beautiful  church  now  stands.  The 
church  was  commenced  in  the  autumn  of  1857. 


600  APPENDIX. 


EPISCOPAL    CHURCH. 

It  was  in  September,  1819,  that  the  first  Episcopal  service  was  held  in 
an  old  frame  building  on  Spruce  street,  between  Third  and  Fourth  streets, 
a  portion  of  the  ground  being  now  occupied  as  the  "  Sisters'  Hospital." 
The  sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  John  Ward,  and  it  is  probable  that 
an  organization  was  effected  in  November  of  that  year.  He  remained  in 
St.  Louis  until  1821,  when  he  removed  to  Lexington.  Nearly  all  the 
time  that  he  remained  in  St.  Louis  he  preached  in  the  old  Court-house, 
corner  of  Second  and  Walnut  streets,  and  a  temporary  pulpit  was  erected 
in  the  old  house,  and  it  was  termed  the  "  Episcopal  Church."  The  first 
communicants  of  this  church  were  Mrs.  Harrell  and  Mrs.  Jourdan.  The 
former  was  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Harrell,  a  zealous  and  exemplary 
divine,  who  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1825,  and  was  the  successor  of  Mr. 
Ward.  Mrs.  Jourdan  is  now  Mrs.  Mason,  and  resides  in  the  state  of  Il- 
linois. She  is  the  sister  of  Henry  Von  Phul,  senior.  During  Mr.  Ward's 
time  in  St.  Louis,  there  were  no  communicants.  The  first  church  was 
commenced  in  1826,  and  completed  in  1830.  It  stood  on  the  corner  of 
Third  and  Chesnut  streets. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Harrel  married  Mr.  Giddings  when  the  Presbyterian 
missionary  took  a  wife,  and  preached  his  funeral  oration. 

EVANGELICAL    CHURCHES. 

The  first  church  of  this  name  was  organized  in  1835,  and  the  first  ser- 
vice preached  in  a  Methodist  church,  corner  of  Washington  avenue  and 
Fourth  street,  by  Rev.  William  Buettner,  D.  D.  A  church  was  soon  after 
erected  on  Seventh  street,  and  was  called  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
In  some  years  afterward  there  was  a  severance  from  the  mother  church, 
and  there  came  into  existence  the  Union  Evangelical  Church,  being  a 
union  of  the  German  Reformed  and  Lutheran  doctrines.  There  are  seven 
churches  of  the  Evangelical  order. 

BAPTIST    CHURCHES. 

On  February  18th,  1818,  the  first  organization  of  the  Baptists  was 
effected  in  St.  Louis,  principally  through  the  exertions  of  the  Rev.  John 
M.  Peck  and  Rev.  James  E.  Welch.  There  were  then  but  seven  Baptists 
in  the  town.  They,  however,  with  a  praiseworthy  zeal  commenced  erect- 
ing a  church  on  the  south-west  corner  of  Market  and  Third  streets,  which 
became  afterward  the  site  of  the  National  Hotel.  In  1835,  a  fine  church 
edifice  was  erected  on  the  corner  of  Third  and  Chesnut  streets.  They 
have  eight  churches. 

METHODIST    CHURCHES. 

There  was  no  organization  effected  in  St.  Louis  until  1820,  though, 
previous  to  that  time,  the  Rev.  John  Scripps  occasionally  preached  and 
held  prayer-meetings.  In  1820,  the  Rev.  Jesse  Walker  came  to  St.  Loui?, 
and  organized  the  church.  The  service  was  held  in  an  old  frame  build- 
ing, corner  of  Third  street  and  Myrtle  avenue.  Through  his  exertions, 
soon  afterward  a  frame  church  was  erected  on  the  corner  of  Fourth  and 
Myrtle.  Eighteen  churches. 


APPENDIX. 


601 


There  are  also  two  Jewish  churches,  both  in  a  thriving  state,  and  one 
"  Christian  Church,"  and  one  Universalist  church.  There  are  in  all 
seventy-seven  churches. 

Some  years  ago  the  Mormons  had  a  church  in  the  city,  but  it  is  not 
now  in  existence. 

REVENUE  AND  TAXES. 

It  will  be  a  matter  of  interesting  information  for  the  readers  of  this 
work  to  look  over  the  following  statistics,  where  they  can  see  almost  at 
a  glance  the  gradations  in  the  value  of  personal  and  real  estate  in  St. 
Louis.  Some  of  the  record-books  have  been  destroyed  by  fire,  which 
accounts  for  the  hiatus  in  the  tables  between  the  years  1812  and  1819. 
We  have  given  the  amount  of  taxes  raised  by  assessment,  with  the  per- 
centage of  each  year,  and,  by  careful  calculation  from  that  data,  have 
arrived  at  the  correct  assessment  of  the  real  and  personal  estate. 

Population. 

925 
1,400 


Year. 
1799 

Names  of 
Assessors. 

Taxes  from 
Assessment. 

Value  of  Real  and 
Personal  Estate. 

1810.. 

1811 


1812  j 

1819 
1820 
1821 
1822 
1823 
1824 
1825 
1826 
1827 
1828 
1829 
1830 
1831 
1832 
1833 
1834 
1835 
1836 
1837 
1838 
1839 
1840 
1842 
1844 
1846 
1848 
1850 
1851 
1852 
1853 
1855 
1856 
1858 
1S59 


$672  58  (i  per  cent.) $134,516  00 

of  one  per  cent.)      134,31300 
424,560  00 


447  71 


Ferguson  &  Leduc 


Wm.  C.  Carr, 
Auguste  Chouteau  J 
Charles  Sanguinet, 
Dr.  Robert  Simpson 

Jabez  Warner 3,396  48} 

M.  P.  Leduc 3,585  54   . 

"  3,823  80 

3,824  68 

4,05032    (i  of  one  per  cent.)      810,06400 

5,062  29 

1,970  41}  (i  of  one  per  cent.)  1,013,167  00 

Peter  Ferguson 2,509  68}  (i  of  one  percent.) 

Elliot  Lee 2,933  45 

"  3,775  83 

Patrick  Walsh 4,765  98 

L.  A.  Benoist 4,576  64  

3,466  77 

3,897  64 

2.745  84 

Joseph  V.  Gamier 2,579  61 

John  McCausland 8,332  08 

26,615  41 

30,100  00 


4,928 


5,000 
5,852 

6,397 

8,316 

12,040 


.  .    39,055  00 

. .    43,291  56 8,682,506  00 

. .    45,088  61 12,101,028  00 

..    47,78000 13,999,91450 

15,055,720  99 

i 19,506,497  85 

29,676,649  24 

34,443,529  21 

38,281,668  96 

39,397,186  33 

42.991,812  00 

59,609,289  0 

82,609,449  3. 

1,074,112  68 104,621,360  92 


74,439 
94.000 


185,587 


602  APPENDIX. 


These  tables  have  been  prepared  with  the  greatest  care,  and  are  perfectly 
reliable.  This  statement  is  necessary,  so  that  the  community  may  know 
that  we  have  gone  to  the  records  ourselves,  and  have  drawn  from  no  other 
sources.  All  of  the  reports  which  we  have  seen  published  in  this  connec- 
tion, without  a  single  exception,  are  full  of  inaccuracies. 

When  the  Province  of  Louisiana  was  ceded  to  the  United  States,  and 
Congress  divided  it  into  two  districts,  the  governor  and  judges  of  Indiana, 
who  had  the  executive  control  of  the  District  of  Louisiana,  made  some 
law  relative  to  revenue,  but  the  assessment  was  a  general  assessment, 
and  St.  Louis  was  only  a  part  of  a  district.  It  was  not  until  1809  that 
it  became  a  town,  and  the  first  assessment  of  which  there  is  any  record 
took  place  in  1811. 

The  highest  valuation  of  property  was  assessed  to  Auguste  Chouteau, 
the  valuation  of  his  property  being  $15,664,  on  which  he  paid  a  tax  of 
seventy-eight  and  thirty-two  cents.  The  estate  of  Francis  M.  Benoist, 
father  of  L.  A.  Benoist,  the  well-known  banker  of  St.  Louis,  was  assessed 
at  $1,100. 

Aususte  Chouteau  paid  a  tax  of  $268  10  on  property  assessed  to 
$76,600,  being  the  largest  property-holder  in  the  town.  Judge  J.  B.  C. 
Lucas  paid  a  tax  of  $36  94  on  property  valued  at  $10,555.  Colonel  John 
O'Fallon  paid  a  tax  of  $8  58  on  property  valued  at  $2,450.  William 
Clark  paid  a  tax  of  $69  76  on  property  valued  at  $19,930.  William 
Christy  paid  a  tax  of  $52  50  on  property  valued  at  $16,000.  Henry  Von 
Phul  paid  a  tax  of  $28  61  on  property  assessed  to  $8,175  00. 


PUBLIC  BUILDINGS. 

[We  are  indebted  to  Mr.  John  E.  Yore  for  the  following  history  of  the 
Merchants'  Exchange  building :] 


MERCHANTS     EXCHANGE. 

The  preliminary  steps  to  form  a  company  to  build  the  Exchange  build- 
ing were  taken  in  the  early  part  of  the  winter  of  1855-6.  Several  gen- 
tlemen, among  whom  may  be  mentioned  the  names  of  James  H.  Lucas, 
George  R.  Taylor,  Edward  J.  Gay,  George  Knapp,  Louis  C.  Gamier, 
Fils  &  Corte,  John  G.  Priest,  L.  A.  Benoist,  L.  Riggs,  A.  Mier,  L.  V.  Bogy, 
and  others,  took  a  very  active  part  in  procuring  the  stock  subscriptions 
and  organizing  the  company.  After  the  sum  of  seventy-five  per  cent,  of 
the  capital  stock  had  been  subscribed,  a  meeting  of  the  stockholders  was 
convened,  at  the  Merchants'  Exchange  (at  that  time  on  the  south-west 
corner  of  Olive  and  Main  streets),  on  the  oth  of  January,  1856.  At  this 
meeting  the  sum  or  amount  of  $57,000  in  subscriptions  was  represented 
and  present.  The  object  of  this  meeting  was  to  elect  by  ballot,  according 
to  the  articles  of  association,  seven  trustees  to  serve  for  one  year  as  the 
first  board  of  trustees  of  the  St.  Louis  Merchants'  Exchange  Company. 
The  result  of  this  election  was  the  choice  of  the  following-named  gen- 


APPEXDIX.  603 


tlemen : — George  R.  Taylor,  Edward  J.  Gay,  James  H.  Lucas,  Lamason 
Rigg*,  Felix  Corte,  Louis  C.  Gamier,  and  Xeree  Valle.  At  a  subsequent 
meeting  of  the  board,  George  R.  Taylor  was  chosen  president,  J.  II.  Lucas 
treasurer,  and  John  E.  Yore  secretary.  The  company  was  then  duly  or- 
ganized, and  proceeded  at  once  to  the  purchase  of  the  ground  and  the 
erection  of  the  Exchange  building. 

The  ground  was  purchased  of  the  city  of  St.  Loxiis,  consisting  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  in  block  No.  7,  fronting  on  Main  and  Com- 
mercial streets,  and  between  Market  and  Walnut  streets.  Messrs  George 
R.  Taylor,  Lucas  C.  Gamier,  and  Felix  Corte,  were  appointed  the  building 
committee.  A  premium  of  $250  was  offered  for  the  best  plan  and  $50 
for  the  second  best  plan  for  an  exchange  building.  Twelve  different  plans 
were  received  by  the  company.  The  plans  offered  by  Messrs.  Barnett 
«fc  Weler  were  adopted  by  the  board,  and  also  by  the  stockholders,  at  a 
subsequent  meeting  held  for  that  purpose.  Mr.  Oliver  A.  Hart  was  ap- 
pointed superintendent,  and  Messrs.  Barnett  <fc  Weler  were  awarded  the 
contract  for  the  building  of  the  Exchange.  The  building  was  commenced 
in  March,  1856,  and  finished  in  May,  1857.  The  front  of  the  building  on 
Main  street  is  of  stone,  and  on  Commercial  street  of  brick  and  stone. 
The  front  elevation  on  Main  street,  while  it  is  not  devoid  of  ornament, 
is  yet  sufficiently  so  to  present  an  executive  massiveness  and  grandeur. 
There  are  no  expensive  and  meretricious  ornaments  to  attract  the  fancy  at 
the  expense  of  the  judgment,  but  all  is  simplicity,  purity,  and  unosten- 
tation,  and  presents  a  very  chaste  and  impressive  effect.  The  height  of 
the  building  from  Main  street  to  the  cornice  is  seventy  feet.  The  front  is 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet ;  depth  about  eighty-five  feet.  The 
exchange  hall  is  one  hundred  and  two  feet  by  eighty-one  in  the  clear,  and 
is  nearly  as  large  as  the  great  hall  of  the  Mercantile  Library,  with  twenty- 
six  feet  in  the  clear,  surrounded  with  a  deep  cornice.  Shown  from  the 
centre  of  the  hall  is  an  opening  of  nearly  fifty  feet,  through  which  light 
is  admitted  from  an  elegant  spandrel  dome,  forming  the  ceiling  in  the 
centre,  and  rising  above  the  roof  of  the  building.  The  reading-room  is 
on  the  south  side  of  the  hall,  and  rests  on  fluted  iron  'columns,  and  is 
eighteen  by  eighty-one  »feet  in  the  clear,  surmounted  with  a  handsome 
iron  railing.  Above  the  exchange  hall  the  space  is  subdivided  into  four- 
teen large  offices.  The  cost  of  this  building  was  about  $75,000.  The 
present  value  of  the  building  and  ground  is  $200,000. 


CUSTOM    HOUSE. 

On  a  portion  of  the  site  whereon  stood  the  finest  theatre  in  St.  Louis 
is  located  the  Custom  House.  It  is  but  recently  completed,  having  been 
several  years  in  erection.-  It  has  been  under  the  direction  of  the  most 
distinguished  architects  in  the  West — first  under  the  charge  of  Messrs. 
Barnett  &  Peck,  and  then  Thomas  Walsh. 

The  building  has  all  that  stamina  and  massiveness  peculiar  to  Egyptian 

architecture,  but,  with  all  its  strength   manifest  in  its  immense  blocks  of 

stone,  it  still  preserves  a  graceful  and  beautiful  appearance,  the  heaviness 

being  relieved  by  tasteful  columns  and  pillars,  which,  without  diminish- 

26 


604 


APPENDIX. 


ing  its  strength,  lend  to  it  the  attraction  of  Gothic  architecture.  It  is  a 
model  of  strength  and  beauty.  The  foundation  is  of  piles — huge  pieces 
of  wood  sharpened  and  driven  by  the  power  of  machinery  twenty-two 
feet  in  the  earth.  There  is  a  vault  running  the  whole  length  of  the  build- 
ing, and  the  immense  structure  is  supported  upon  arches.  It  is  a  model 
of  architectural  beauty  and  strength,  and  probably  is  the  cheapest  build- 
ing ever  erected,  for  which  the  general  government  had  to  pay  the  whole 
cost,  being  but  $356,000. 

There  are  scores  of  buildings  which  deserve  a  mention  in  this  history, 
but  we  have  not  space  for  the  purpose,  and  have  selected  but  these  two 
as  significant  of  the  merits  of  the  rest.  One  is  the  creation  of  public  and 
the  other  of  private  enterprise.  In  a  future  number  of  the  continuance 
of  this  publication  we  will  give  a  full  account  of  the  public  and  business 
edifices  of  our  great  Metropolis. 


SUCCESSION  OF  THE  MAYORS  OF  ST.  LOUIS. 


The  first  city  charter  bears  date  December  9th,  1822. 
of  mayors  since  that  date  has  been  as  follows : 


The  succession 


DATE. 

1823  to  1829  . 

MATOES. 

.William  Carr  Lane 

DATE. 

1846  

MAYORS. 

.  -.Peter  G  Camden 

1829  to  1833  . 

.Daniel  D.  Pacre.* 

1847  

.   .Bryan  Mullanphy 

1833  to  1835.. 

.John  W.  Johnson. 

1848  

.   .John  M.  Kmru. 

1835  to  1838.. 

.John  F.  Darby. 

1849  

.   .James  G.  Barry 

1838  to  1840.. 
1840  

.William  Carr  Lane. 
John  F  Darbv 

1850  to  1853 
1853  to  1855 

...Luther  M.  Kennett. 
.John  How 

1841  

John  D  Da°r(Tett. 

1855 

.  >  v  ashino"ton  Kin0" 

1842  

.Georare  Ma^uire. 

1856 

John  How 

1843  

O                   IT1 

..John  M.  Wimer. 

1857.      . 

.John  M    Wiiner 

1844  to  1846. 

..Bernard  Pratte. 

1858-9  ' 

.Oliver  D.  Filley. 

*  In  1833,  Dr.  Samuel  Merry  was  elected  mayor,  but  he  being  at  that  time  receiver 
of  public  money,  the  Board  of  Aldermen  refused  to  recognize  the  election.  (See  page 
347.) 


FIRST     nOVKRNOR     OF     MISSOURI. 


PRKSKNT    GOVERNOR     OF     MISSOURI. 


FIRST   MAYOR   OF   ST.   LOUIS.  PKESKNT   MAYOROF   ST.    LOUIS. 

GOVERNOR   MONAIR'S    HOUSE,    ST.    LOUIS. 


THE  GREAT  WEST, 

AND  HER  COMMERCIAL  METROPOLIS. 


THE  BUSINESS  &  BUSINESS  MEN 


OF 


ST.  LOUIS. 


VOL.  II. 


THIS  highly  instructive  and  useful  work  will  immediately  follow  the  publi- 
cation of  this  book,  and  the  following  beautiful  engravings  which  are  inserted 
are  given  as  specimens  of  the  illustrations  which  will  adorn  it.  It  was  at  first 
the  intention  of  the  author  to  let  the  "  Business  and  Business  Men  of  St. 
Louis,"  make  a  portion  of  the  present  volume ;  but  our  readers  will  see  at 
a  glance,  that  this  would  be  impossible.  This  book  is  already  sufficiently 
voluminous,  and  the  •'  Business  and  Business  Men  of  St.  Louis"  will  be 
sufficient  in  themselves  to  form  a  volume  of  equal  magnitude. 

The  next  volume,  comprising  the  "  Business  and  Business  Men  of  St. 
Louis,"  will  be  gotten  up  in  the  same  magnificent  manner,  which  is  a  guar- 
antee of  its  utility,  its  authenticity,  and  artistical  beauty.  It  will  contain 
the  biographies  and  photographs  of  those  of  our  citizens  who  stand  tit  the 
head  of  their  respective  classes  of  business,  and  whose  energy,  success  and 
examples,  would  teach  useful  lessons  to  posterity. 

This  work  will  give  also  in  detail,  the  business  of  the  great  metropolis  ; 
the  extent,  variety,  and  wealth  of  its  manufactures  and  commerce,  which, 
already  so  great,  in  its  colossal  strides,  bids  fair  to  surpass  an}'  city  of  our 
Union.  The  illustrations  will  comprise  the  buildings  of  our  prominent 
business  firms,  public  edifices,  and  some  physical  features,  among  which 
will  be  an  illustration  of  the  "  Big  Mound,"  from  which  St.  Louis  derives 
its  sobriquet  of  the  "  Mound  City." 

RICHARD  EDWARDS, 
COR.  OF  SD  AND  PIKE  STS.  EDITOR  &  PUBLISHER. 


MISSOURI  SPINNING  COMPANY. 
Menard  Street,  between  Geyer  Avenue  and  Emmet  Street. 

Louis  BOSSE,  President.  HENRY  PRAXTE,  Vice-President. 

CHARLES  F.  BLATTAU.  Treasurer.         JOHX  RCEGG,  Superintendent. 
RICHARD  BOESEWETTER,  Secretary. 


MISSOURI  STEAM  PLANING  MILL. 
9th  Corner  of  Walnut  Street. 


LACLEDE  MILLS. 

Corner  of  foulard  and  Decatur  Streets. 

S.  G.  SEARS,  &  Co.,  Proprietors. 


ST.  LOUIS  STARCH  FACTORY. 

Clarke  Avenue,  between  16th  and  17th  Streets. 

ANDREW  F.  HUMMITSCH.  Proprietor. 


PATENT  PRESS  OIL  WORKS. 

2d  Corner  of  Columbia  Street. 
WYNAXj  RENICK,  &  Co.,  Proprietors. 


VIEW  ON  SECOND  STREET. 
Nos.  106  and  108. 


STEAM  BAKERY,  Corner  Franklin  Avenue  and  17th  Street. 
G.  GARNEAU,  Proprietor. 


VFK\\*  ON  WASHINGTON  AVENUE. 
Between  Main  and  Second  Street. 


UNION  BREWERY  ON  MARKET  STREET. 
Corner  of  1 8th  Street. 

J.  WlNKELMEYER  &  SCHIFFER,  Proprietors. 


EDWARDS'   JOURNAL- 
VIEW  ON  BROADWAY— BRANCH  OF  CROOKES  OLD  SAW  WORKS 


'ST.  GEORGE  MILL. 

Jackson  Street,  between  Emmet  and  Lesperance  Streets. 
KALBFLEISCH,  LANGE  &  LEONHARDT,  Proprietors. 


VIEW  ON  BIDDLE  STREET. 


VIEW  ON  BROADWAY  CORNER  OF  ASHLEY  STREET. 


itJii^<g«CTPiff^^ 


VIEW  ON  SECOND  STREET. 
Numbers  102  A;  104. 


ST.   LOUIS  STEAM  LAUNDRY. 

Moore  Street,  between  Clark  Avenue  and  Market  Street. 

Jonx  K.  BIIETTALL,  Proprietor. 


VIEW  OX  MAIN  STREET,  NORTH  AVK.^T  CORNER  OF  CHERTNT'T. 


PHCENIX  CHAIR  FACTORY. 

Madison  Street  near  Broadway. 

FATE  &  Co.,  Proprietors. 


ARCHITECTURAL  IRON  WORKS. 

Chestnut  Street  corner  of  10th  Street. 

McMuRRAY,  WINKELMAIER  &  Co.,  Proprietors. 


VIEW  ON  MAIN  STREET. 


ST.  LOUIS  PLANING  MILL. 

O'Fallon  Street  comer  of  High  Street. 

LADD,  PATRICK  &  Co.,  Proprietors. 


VIEW  ON  5TH  STREET  CORNER  OF  HAZEL  STREET. 


NORTH  EAST  CORNER  OE  2n  AND  OLIVER  STREETS. 


VIEW  ON  2D  STREET. 
Numbers  110  and  112. 


PLANTERS'  HOUSE,  4ra  STREET  CORNER  OP  CHESTNUT. 

Under  which  is  situated  the  principal  ticket  offices  of  the  several  Railroads  verging 

from  St.  Louis. 


VIEW  OX  STH  STREET,  CORNER  OF  ST.  CHARLES. 


EAGLE  BRASS  FOUNDRY. 

Vine  Street,  between  2d  and  3d. 

JOHN  GOODIN,  Proprietor. 


VIEW  OX  GTH  STREET,  CORNER  OF  PINE. 


TRUNK  FACTORY. 

Decatur  Street,  corner  of  Julien  Street. 

STEPHEN  F.  SUMMERS,  Proprietor. 


VIEW  ON  MARKET  STREET,  BETWEEN  15TH  AND  16TH  STREETS. 


PARK  MILL. 

Market  Street,  Corner  of  13th  Street. 
T.   A.  BUOKLAND,  Proprietor. 


VIEW  ON  BROADWAY. 


CAMP  SPRING  MILL. 

Estelle  Street,  between  19th  and  20th  Streets. 

F.  EICKERMANN  A  Co.,  Proprietors. 


VIEW  ON  MAIN  STREET. 


VIEW  ON  IOTH  STREET,  CORNER  OF  ST.  CHARLES  STREET. 


WATER  PIPE  FACTORY. 

Papin  Street,  between  12th  and  13th  Streets. 

GRAHAM  &  NEWMAN,  Proprietors. 


PARTRIDGE  &  CO.  GREELY&  GALE. 


VIEW  ON  2D  STREET. 
Numbers  84  and  86. 


STEAM  BAKERY,  Corner  Franklin  Avenue  and  17th  Street. 
J.  GARNEAU,  Proprietor. 


"'-  f  0  fT  Co  WARDS'    JOURNAL. 

VIEW  ON  BROADWAY— BRANCH,  CROOKES  &  CO'S  SAW  WORKS. 


VIEW  ON  SECOND  STREET  NEAR  WASHINGTON  AYENIL3. 


*ff?r: 

..i<iK 


ROBERTS    &.   MORTONI=  JliGLASCOW   Ik   BROTHER. 


VIEW  ON  SECOND  STREET  CORNER  OF  LOCUST. 


COLLIER  WHITE  LEAD  AND  OIL  WORKS. 

Clark  Avenue,  corner  of  10th  Street. 
HKXRY  T.  BLOW.  President.  THOM.VS  RICHESON*,  Secretary. 


VIEW  ON  MAIN  STREET. 


VIEW  ON  10TH  STREET. 

Between  Cerre  and  Gratiot. 

FRITZ  &,  WAINWRIGHT. — Lager  Beer  Brewery. 


ALLEN  IRON  WORKS. 

Corner  Carondclet  and  Allen  Avenues 

THOMSON".  \VHITK  &  Co..  Proprietor*. 


VIEW  OF  TODD  MILLS.— HEMP  WORKS. 

Decatur  Street,  corner  of  Barry  Street. 

LYTLE,  JOHNSON  &  Co.,  Proprietors. 


VIEW  OF  SOAP  FACTORY. 
Christy  Avenue  between  22d  and  23d  Streei 
SCHAEFFER.  AxiiEUSEii  <t  Co..  Proprietors. 


WESTERN  SPICE  MILLS. 

7th  Street,  between  Gratiot  and  Chouteau  Avenue. 

NORMS  &  GARESCHE,  Proprietors. 


ST.  LOUIS  COTTON  FACTORY. 

Menard  Street  between  Soulard  and  Lafayette  Streets. 

ADOLPHUS  MEIER,  President. 


SAXONY   MILLS. 
Lombard  Street,  between  3d  and  4th. 
LEOXHARDT  &  SCHURICHT,  Proprietors. 


MISSOURI  HEMP  WORKS. 

Stoddart  Avenue,  between  Chouteau  Avenue  and  Hickory  Street. 
J.  T.  DOUGLASS,  Proprietor. 


o<=> 


^777 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 

977  8ED9  C002 

EDWARDS'S  GREAT  WEST 


• 


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